Flight operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) have returned to normal after the completion of maintenance work which shut down for six days the Tagaytay aviation radar, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap).
At 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, the CAAP lifted the notice to airmen (notam BO822/17) it issued earlier about the scheduled corrective maintenance of the Tagaytay monopulse secondary surveillance radar (MSSR) from March 6 to 11.
The MSSR is a radar system used in air traffic control to detect and measure an aircraft’s position. It interacts with an aircraft’s radar transponder to determine the plane’s identity, altitude and position.
With the lifting of the notam, Naia is back to normal operations with 40 flights per hour instead of the previous 32. Several airlines cancelled hundreds of domestic flights last week to give way to the maintenance work.
Caap Deputy Director General Manuel Antonio Tamayo on Sunday said they were doing their best to provide safe and convenient air travel for all passengers.
The radar repair covered the overhauling of its antenna and the replacement of its drive motor and rotary joint. The Tagaytay radar is one of three being used by the CAAP in guiding flights approaching Naia. The two other radars are in Laoag and Cebu City.
Tamayo said the repair was necessary for its integration with the satellite-based Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management systems which let aircraft operators meet their planned departure and arrival schedules and stick to their preferred flight profiles without compromising safety.
The P9-billion facility, made possible with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, is expected to be turned over by main contractor Sumitomo-Thales JV to Caap management by July.
The facility can monitor 80 percent of the Manila Flight Information Region assigned to the Philippines by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Caap said.