Xiamen commits to pay aircraft recovery cost in Naia mishap

Xiamen Air flight MF8667 /CONTRIBUTED photo

The Xiamen Airlines has committed to bear the costs of the removal of one of its passenger planes that skidded off the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) runway and paralyzed operations for two days.

In a statement on Wednesday, Xiamen said it has already coordinated with Manila airport authorities over the expenses and is already finalizing the cost.

“After the occurrence of runway excursion at Manila Airport, Xiamen Airlines contacted Manila Airport immediately and made the commitment to bear the costs for aircraft handling and runway recovering caused by the event,” it said.

The Chinese airlines also reiterated its apology to all of the affected passengers.

It said that it has set up eight counters at the Naia to provide free meals and water to all affected passengers from Aug. 20 to 22.

“At present, a joint investigation team, formed by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Civil Aviation Administration of China, is making a comprehensive investigation on this event. Xiamen Airlines shall cooperate fully with the investigation to determine the cause of the event,” Xiamen added.

The mishap forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and affected thousands of passengers as authorities took 36 hours to remove the aircraft from Naia’s runway.