Poe: Xiamen Air should pay for damages for Naia closure

 Xiamen Air should pay for damages caused by the closure of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s (Naia) runway after one of its passenger aircraft skidded off the runway last week and paralyzed operations for 2 days, Senator Grace Poe said.

“If they are at fault, they need to be able to compensate for all the losses, specifically financial losses, about 200 flights,” Poe said on Tuesday in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.

Earlier, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Ed Monreal confirmed that the agency is in the process of determining the total amount of the fine. He added that Xiamen Air officials had already been notified about the need to pay.

READ: Miaa: Removing Xiamen plane cost P15 million

READ: Xiamen Air to pay damages over Naia runway closure – Miaa

The senator, however, also cautioned that the government should not make any “arbitrary policies” considering that there are other international airlines waiting how the Philippines would respond to the incident.

“We cannot lay all the blame on an international airline because other airlines might be able to see this as our laying blame on others as supposed to actually rectifying the situation,” Poe noted.

Airport authorities had been criticized for the closure of the 60/24 runway after a Xiamen Air hard landed and skidded off the runway during a heavy downpour on Thursday evening.

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

READ: Naia chaos brings misery to thousands of passengers

On Monday, Poe filed Senate Resolution No. 852, directing the Senate committee on public services, which she chairs, to conduct the probe on the incident. /ee