CAAP: Minimal flight disruptions during power supply maintenance work on May 17
Naia Terminal 3 (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Wednesday said that it expects “minimal” flight disruptions during its corrective maintenance activity on May 17.
In a statement on Wednesday, CAAP said that despite the temporary airspace closure from 2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. on the said date, only a few flights would be affected in two international gateways and several CAAP-operated airports.
No flights will be affected at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), while only four regional flights from Clark International Airport will be affected, according to the Luzon International Premiere Airport Development Corporation (LIPAD Corporation).
Meanwhile, AirAsia Philippines announced that 12 flights had been rescheduled on May 16 and two on May 17, while six other domestic flights were canceled on May 17.
“The temporary airspace closure is due to the imperative corrective maintenance activity on the ATMC (Philippine Air Traffic Management Center), which is necessary to replace the defective Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), and reconfigure the Air Traffic Management System (ATMS) A/B power supply,” said CAAP Deputy Director General for Operations Edgardo Diaz.
“This will ensure that the CNS/ATM system will continue to provide safe and efficient air traffic control operations,” he added.
CAAP assured the public that it has already coordinated with and advised concerned stakeholders, such as air carriers and airport operators and issued Notices to Airmen (Notams).
The ATMC power supply upgrade will involve the installation of a bypass panel to provide seamless ATM operations and reconfiguring the existing power distribution panel to segregate ATM system A (Voice) and ATM system B (Data).
This will result in the two UPS serving as each other’s independent backup
The maintenance work was originally scheduled to take six hours but was shortened to only two hours to minimize flight disruptions.
