Philippines: Technical glitch causes flight disruptions at Manila airport

Manila, Jan 1 (IANS) A technical glitch with air navigation facilities disrupted the operation at the Philippine capital's airport, causing delays and cancellations of flights to and from Manila, airport and airlines authorities said on Sunday.Flights to and from Manila are on hold due to technical issues at the Air Navigation Facilities of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement released by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).The statement said that the CAAP "is now putting in place emergency protocols to address the situation to enable flight operations to resume as soon as possible".The MIAA said a crisis management team has been activated, bringing together crucial aviation and airport agencies "for a multi-disciplined approach to cushion the impact of the incident.""Flight departures and arrivals are expected to be retimed to new schedules," the MIAA added.Passengers were advised to await instructions or announcements from the airlines, stay inside the terminals, and approach the nearest airline or airport help desk for updates.The Philippine Airlines (PAL) said the delays and diversion of "a number of PAL flights and other airlines" resulted from the glitch."This is a temporary situation, and we will take all necessary steps to restore normal schedules and bring diverted flights back to their original destination as soon as possible," the airline said in a statement.
--IANS int/sha

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