Fire hits Iloilo airport power plant; flights cancelled

MANILA, Philippines–Several flights to and from Iloilo were cancelled Tuesday due to power outage caused by fire at the power plant of the Iloilo International Airport.

According to Joy Songsong, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) spokesperson, the fire, which erupted at around 4:35 p.m., could have been caused by a short circuit of the power plant’s Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS).

As a result, all night flights, starting at 5:45 pm, were cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers in Manila and Iloilo stranded at the airports.

“At least 18 flights–nine Iloilo-bound and nine Manila-bound–were cancelled Tuesday,” Songsong said.

She added that CAAP has already sent a Notice to Airmen (Notam) that Iloilo Airport “will be limited to visual, meteorological conditions… and that all airfield lighting system was also out of service due to the fire.

The night operations in Iloilo airport will resume as soon as repair works at the airport power plant is completed.