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35 flights diverted to other airports due to haze at NAIA
By MARK MERUEÑAS, GMANews.TV
(Update 2 p.m.) At least 35 domestic and international flights that were supposed to land at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Saturday were diverted to Pampanga, Cebu, and Iloilo due to poor visibility. Lito Casaul, technical assistant of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), said the "almost zero visibility" at the NAIA was blamed to the thick haze that came too close to the ground, causing pilots to miss the runway. Casaul said haze – normally a result of air pollution – is normal at this time of the year, but it was thicker than the usual Saturday morning, causing visibility to drop to one kilometer. According to him, airplanes are allowed to land on the airport only with a three or four-kilometer visibility. "Nagpapasama po ito ng nakikita ng vision ng piloto sa runway. Iyan ay pollution na dumidikit sa ground. Sa ganitong panahon na tag-ulan, nagyayari talaga iyan normally expected na namin iyon. Kaso this morning thick haze ang nandito," he told radio dzBB. As a result of the poor visibility, at least 22 flights – four international and 18 domestic – were initially diverted to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark Field Pampanga. Some of the flights came from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Guam. Two Philippine Airlines flights, meanwhile, were diverted to land in the central Philippine province of Cebu. A PAL flight was also diverted to Iloilo province. Casaul assured the public that despite the diversion, no flight would be canceled, adding that airport authorities will just have to wait for the skies to clear up. Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing of the Cebu Pacific Airlines, said four of the diverted flights were their fleet – two of them came from Caticlan, one from Catarman, and one from Naga. Iyog said their four affected flights were only small aircraft (ATR72), adding that their bigger Airbus planes were still able to land at the NAIA because of their capability to land under low visibility. "Itong [equipment sa bigger planes] ang nagagamit namin kaya nakakapagpalapag kami ngayon sa Manila," Iyog said. She said their planes that were diverted to Pampanga are still "waiting na mag-imporve ang visibility sa Manila para maibalik na sila sa Manila." Apart from the four Cebu Pacific flights, among the other diverted flights were:
- 11 flights of Philippine Airlines 1 flight of Royal Brunei Airlines 2 flights of the Air Philippines 4 flights of Zest Airlines 1 flight of KNL Airlines 1 flight of Sea Air 2 flights of China Air 1 flight of Air Micronesia
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