Iloilo Airport Photo by Don Lejano
Several flights to and from Iloilo province were canceled on Tuesday due to power outage caused by a fire at the power plant of Iloilo International Airport.
Joy Songsong, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) spokesperson, said the fire, which broke out 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 p.m. were canceled, leaving thousands of passengers in Manila and Iloilo stranded at the airports.
“At least 18 flights—nine Iloilo-bound and nine Manila-bound—were canceled Tuesday,” Songsong said.
She added that CAAP had already sent a Notice to Airmen (Notam) that Iloilo Airport “will be limited to visual, meteorological conditions… and that the airfield lighting system was also out of service due to the fire.”
The night operations in Iloilo airport will resume as soon as repair work at the airport power plant is completed.
All daytime operations, however, are normal, Songsong added.