INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–The ongoing rehabilitation of the devastated Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City is causing much inconvenience to fliers.
Some weeks ago, a passenger on Philippine Airlines complained of overbooking on a Manila-Tacloban-Manila flight which was forced to off-load passengers.
Now Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) passengers bound for Manila complained of the off-loading of their check-in luggage at the Tacloban airport.
Three photojournalists who had gone to Tacloban to cover the Super Typhoon “Yolanda” anniversary on Nov. 8 were on board CEB flight 5J2870 to Manila on Monday which departed at 7:20 a.m. and arrived at Naia Terminal 3 at 8:55 a.m., but without their bags.
One of the photojournalists who refused to be identified told the Inquirer all the passengers were informed about the off-loading only after they had boarded the plane.
“They should have informed us before we checked our luggage in,” he said.
Three women who had a connecting flight to Los Angeles, California, later that day wanted to know from the crew how they would send their luggage on to the United States.
One man complained the lechon (roasted pig) he had brought from Tacloban would go stale, while a foreign tourist worried about what he was going to wear during his stay in Manila.
CEB issued a statement confirming the off-loading incident on Monday.
“For the information of the public, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has issued an advisory that due to the ongoing runway rehabilitation at the DZR Airport in Tacloban, the usable runway will be shorter (from 1,200 meters to 1,100 meters) starting today, Nov. 10, until Dec. 3,” Jorenz Tañada, CEB vice president for corporate affairs, said.
“During this period, weather conditions and runway length would limit aircraft take-off weight. There may be instances when check-in bags would be limited or off-loaded for safety,” he said.–Niña P. Calleja