MANILA –– Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Wednesday mounted several international replacement flights for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and other passengers.
PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said these flights were PR 1654 Manila-Riyadh, which carried 250 passengers of the cancelled Manila-Riyadh and Manila-Damman flights from August 17 to 20; PR5103 Los Angeles-Manila carrying 197 passengers of the cancelled Los Angeles-Manila flights of the previous days; and PR 5117 Vancouver-Manila.
She said more than 100 in the Manila-Riyadh flight are OFWs. “Those whose visas to the Middle East have already expired were given PAL certifications indicating that their extended stay in the Philippines was due to ‘force majeure’,” Villaluna added.
Amid heavy rains, Xiamen Air flight MF8667 skidded off at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s (NAIA) runway 06/24 shortly before midnight of Aug. 16, causing the closure of the airport’s international runway until before noon of August 18.
The flight delays, cancellations, and diversions since the runway closure brought a domino effect on subsequent flights, as these flights need to get terminal slots.
Villaluna said from August 17 to 19, PAL had 34,000 affected passengers. For this period, passengers of cancelled flights were 28,300, while there were 5,700 passengers in the diverted flights.
PAL had 87 cancelled flights and 21 diverted flights from August 17 to 19, Villaluna added. -PNA
