After the controversial New Year’s technical glitch at NAIA and a power outage at NAIA Terminal 3 yesterday (May 2), the CAAP announced that major Philippine airports will be shut down for six hours–from 12 midnight to 6 AM–on May 17. The reason for the shutdown is to upgrade the air traffic management system, repair the automatic voltage regulator, and replace the uninterruptible power supply. These are components that are crucial, as they have caused the two recent power outages at NAIA.
“For six hours, wala talagang activity sa ating airspace,” MIAA Senior Assistant General Manager Bryan Co said. “CAAP is saying it could happen na mas maiksi, pwedeng shorter. Pero as far as planning is concerned, we’re planning six hours.”
While the entire Philippine airspace will be shut down due to the maintenance works, CAAP clarified that this will mainly affect NAIA, Clark International Airport, Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and several flights at the other 42 CAAP commercially operated airports. Aside from the May 17 maintenance advisory, a corrective maintenance activity was conducted today (May 3) from 2 AM to 4 AM.
A meeting will be held today (May 3) with stakeholders to discuss plans for the disruption, which will include adjusting flight schedules.
