PAL, Cebu Pacific cancel 78 flights after Airbus technical advisory
(Updated: 5:05 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 29)
MANILA, Philippines —A total of 84 Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific flights were canceled on Saturday following a technical advisory from Airbus affecting certain A320 and A321 aircraft models, the carriers said.
READ: Air travel faces disruptions over A320 software switch
In an advisory, PAL said the following flights were canceled as of 3:45 p.m.:
- PR 1781/1782 Manila-Puerto Princesa-Manila
- PR 1845 Manila-Cebu
- PR 1880 Cebu-Manila
- PR 1801/1802 Manila-Davao-Manila
- PR 2981/2982 Manila-Tacloban-Manila
- PR 2035/2036 Manila-Caticlan-Manila
- PR 2141/2142 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
- PR 2773/2774 Manila-Tagbilaran-Manila
- PR 2133/2134 Manila-Bacolod-Manila
- PR 2953/2954 Manila-Zamboanga-Manila
- PR 2919/2920 Manila-Legazpi (Daraga)-Manila
- PR 434 Cebu-Narita
- PR 1846 Cebu-Manila
The following Cebu Pacific flights were cancelled as of 8 a.m.:
- 5J 899/900 Manila-Caticlan-Manila
- 5J 2511/2502 Manila-Cebu-Manila
- 5J 261/262 Iloilo-Puerto Princesa-Iloilo
- 5J 4761/4760 Puerto Princesa-Davao-Puerto Princesa
- 5J 4736/4737 Davao-Caticlan-Davao
- 5J 4768/4769 Davao-Tacloban-Davao
- 5J 451/452 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
- 5J 633/634 Manila-Puerto Princesa-Manila
- 5J 619/620 Manila-Bohol-Manila
- 5J 623/624 Manila-Dumaguete-Manila
- 5J 659/660 Manila-Tacloban-Manila
- 5J 703/704 Manila-Legazpi-Manila
- 5J 373/374 Manila-Roxas-Manila
- 5J 599/600 Cebu-Davao-Cebu
- 5J 997/998 Manila-General Santos-Manila
- 5J 965/966 Manila-Davao-Manila
- 5J 321/322 Manila-Legazpi-Manila
- 5J 3093/3094 Manila-Butuan-Manila
- 5J 395/396 Manila-Cagayan de Oro-Manila
- 5J 597/598 Cebu-Davao-Cebu
- 5J 993/994 Manila-General Santos-Manila
- 5J 977/978 Manila-Davao-Manila
- 5J 473/474 Manila-Bacolod-Manila
- 5J 504/505 Manila-Tuguegarao-Manila
- 5J 771/772 Manila-Pagadian-Manila
- 5J 643/644 Manila-Puerto Princesa-Manila
- 5J 847/848 Manila-Zamboanga-Manila
- 5J 383/384 Manila-Cagayan de Oro-Manila
- 5J 463/464 Manila-Iloilo-Manila
- 5J 785/786 Manila-Butuan-Manila
- 5J 915/916 Clark-Caticlan-Clark
PAL informed affected passengers they may opt to rebook their tickets, convert them into travel credits, or request a refund.
In a separate advisory, Cebu Pacific said its operations and engineering teams were working “diligently” to complete the necessary updates and advised travelers to check flight statuses via its website before going to the airport.
READ: Bohol-Panglao Int’l Airport enters ‘big jet era’ as 1st Airbus A330 lands
Cebu Pacific also announced that it is offering free rebooking and travel fund conversion for affected passengers scheduled to fly between November 29 and December 1.
Airbus has issued an urgent alert affecting up to 6,000 A320 family aircraft around the world after a technical malfunction in October involving a JetBlue flight.
The European planemaker instructed operators to implement “immediate precautionary action” after determining that intense solar radiation may corrupt flight control data.
The software at the center of the issue, the Elevator and Aileron Computer, requires updates that could take several hours for most aircraft, though up to 1,000 planes may need weeks to fix.
Air Carriers Association of the Philippines Executive Director Jose Enriquez Perez De Tagle on Saturday said that the aircraft’s software upgrading will be completed by Sunday noon. /das/dm/jpv
