Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 1) — Electricity was restored to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA) after a power outage led to the cancellation of over 40 flights, affecting over 9,000 passengers on Labor Day, officials said.
In a press conference in the afternoon after the outage, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the power outage began at 1:05 a.m.
A Meralco team arrived 15 minutes later to address the interruption. Meralco and the MIAA were able to put up regular power by 8:46 a.m. Bautista said. \”Since then, the operations of NAIA has commenced using the regular Meralco power.\”
The outage disrupted over 40 flights. An official of budget carrier Cebu Pacific said 9,391 passengers were affected.
LIST: Canceled, delayed flights due to NAIA power outage
The MIAA said that flights out of Terminal 3 would resume in the next 24 hours. “As of 1 this afternoon, we were able to operate about 247 flights out of all the flights that we have at NAIA. For context, we normally operate about 750 to 760 flights,” the airport operator said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is in the United States for an official visit, tasked Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista to immediately fix the problem and attend to affected passengers.
Before power was restored, Bautista said MIAA turned on its generator to cover important functions in Terminal 3 including check-in operations and departures. Elevators, escalators, and the central air-conditioning system weren’t operational during the power outage.
However, he said back-up power was unable to support the entire terminal’s requirements, leaving many passengers in the airport distressed.
The inconvenience and intense heat in the terminal led to restlessness among the travelers. Some even said they received alerts from the airlines when they were already at the airport.
\”Sana i-rebook nila kami ng ibang ano. Kasi tulad ngayon importante talaga. May mga work. So pano na ngayon? It’s either sobrang mahal or wala na, tomorrow na,\” passenger Che Escobedo said.
She added, \”Sana may humarap sa amin na taga-Cebu Pacific. Yun lang naman e kung ano ang gagawin. Minsan sinisigawan pa kami ng mga guard, parang kami pa ang perwisyo dito. Pinapaalis pa kami.
[Translation: I hope they rebook us because this trip is important, we have work. Either it’s too expensive or there are no more flights. I hope representatives from Cebu Pacific talk to us to tell us what to do. The guard even scolded us as if we are an inconvenience, they’re asking us to leave.]
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WATCH: Stranded passengers are restless as they continue to wait for authorities to manage the situation amid the power outage at NAIA Terminal 3 on Labor Day. | @GergCahiles pic.twitter.com/o1PIrTmw8F
— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) May 1, 2023
