Flight schedules back to normal after Naia runway reopening

Nearly 700 flights have flown in and out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) since the runway was reopened on Saturday, the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) said on Sunday.

Miaa General Manager Ed Monreal said a total of 681 flights have already flown in and out of the country’s main airport. And these flights have served at least 136,200 local and international passengers.

“Since we opened the runway — 11:25 a.m. (on Saturday) kami nagbukas and until about 11:00 this morning (Sunday) — we have accounted a total of 681 flights, which consists of domestic and international operations,” Monreal said in a press conference.

He added that with an average of 200 passengers per flight, some 136,000 passenger have flown since the runway was reopened on Saturday.

Flight operations were stopped at the international airport after Xiamen Air Flight MF8667 skidded off the runway on Thursday night.

READ: Dozens of flights affected as plane skids off rain-soaked Naia runway

Airport authorities reopened the runway on Saturday before noon, minutes before their initial target time at 12:00 noon.

READ: MIAA: Naia operations return to normal after 24-hour runway closure

Monreal also noted that there were fewer stranded passengers at Terminals 2 and 3 of the Naia on Sunday compared to the first day of the incident.

“Based on reports, ang Terminal 1 na lang ang malaki ang problema, ang 2, 3 halos… I can’t say normal, but hindi na po ganon karami ang pasahero sa lobby ng paliparan,” he said.

(Based on reports, only Terminal 1 still has a huge problem. At Terminals 2 and 3, while still not normal, the crowd has started to thin out.There were relatively fewer passengers at the lobby.) /ee