CAAP completes first maintenance work without flight disruptions

By: Zacarian Sarao - 12 months ago

MANILA, Philippines — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Wednesday said that it successfully completed its first scheduled maintenance activity on its air navigation system without any flight disruptions.

To recall, the said maintenance work was scheduled for May 3, 2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m.

“Maintenance work on the AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulator) was completed at around 03:27 a.m. without disruption … Notam (notice to airmen) lifted, flight operations normal,” CAAP said in an advisory.

Earlier, CAAP said that the corrective maintenance activity would be conducted at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) to repair the AVR, replace the Uninterruptible Power Supply, and upgrade the Air Traffic Management System A/B power supply.

This facility houses the Communications, Navigations, Surveillance / Air Traffic Management system, which manages and supervises the air traffic activities within the Philippine Flight Information Region.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Airlines (PAL), for its part, told Inquirer.net that it announced flight adjustments as early as May 1 in anticipation of the said maintenance on May 3. Twenty of its international flights and eight domestic flights were delayed.

“But no further delays were caused by the maintenance itself,” said PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna.

The Manila International Airport Authority also said that it did not record any flight delays caused by the two-hour maintenance.

Inquirer.net has reached out to other commercial airlines to verify if their flights were affected during the maintenance but has yet to receive a response as of writing.

A second maintenance is scheduled on May 17 from 12 midnight to 6 a.m. with the entire Philippine airspace set to be shut down for the entire duration.

Wednesday’s maintenance comes just a few days after a power outage struck the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Monday, occurring at around 1:05 a.m. and was restored at around 8:46 a.m.

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