FILE PHOTO: Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia). Image from Miaa)
MANILA, Philippines — The Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) on Tuesday implemented a four-hour power interruption at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 to give way for the replacement of defective power cables.
According to Miaa, power interruption began at 7 a.m. and would last until 11 a.m. to replace medium voltage power cables and vacuum circuit breakers in two of the Terminal’s substations.
“It is expected that the power interruption will have no impact on flight operations,” Miaa said.
Miaa generator sets will be providing temporary power to the following areas: Air Asia office, Boarding Gates 101-112, moving walkways and elevators at Levels 2 and 3 of the international wing, Level 1 offices, food and retail outlets at the south concourse of the Terminal.
If unable to finish energization activities during the four hours, Miaa will implement another power interruption with the same duration on Wednesday, August 9.
“We apologize for the inconvenience due to this scheduled limited power interruption. This is an inevitable consequence of our commitment to rehabilitate and upgrade our T3 electrical systems,” Miaa Officer-in-Charge Bryan Co said in the same statement.
He assured the public that the Miaa should deliver on its promise to complete the electrical systems rehabilitation and upgrade as soon as possible.
The repairs came amid an effort to improve the Naia Terminal 3’s power supply after multiple power failures since last year.
The first time was when a blackout disrupted Terminal 3 airport operations in September 2022, followed by a power failure that paralyzed the country’s entire air navigation system on January 1, 2023.
Then, on May 1, 2023, Terminal 3 experienced another blackout due to a faulty electrical current; another one occurred on June 9, 2023, after a lapse during an electrical audit process.