Power outage again hits NAIA-3 a month after Labor Day disruption

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 9) — Passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 experienced another power interruption that lasted half an hour on Friday afternoon, just a little over a month after the hours-long outage on May 1.

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), which manages the country’s main air gateway, said the power interruption began at 12:52 p.m.

Officer-in-charge Bryan Co said generator sets were used before power was restored at 1:29 p.m., although he noted these were not enough to produce electricity in all affected areas.

“The one that was affected was the whole NAIA Terminal 3, but as mentioned, after the interruption, nag-kick in naman po ang ating mga emergency gensets” he said in a media briefing.

According to the official, the “brief” outage was caused by a procedural lapse during a comprehensive electrical audit process. This was after a technician forgot to unplug a test cable before energizing the substations, resulting in a power shortage, Co explained.

The MIAA said there were no flight cancellations but that seven flights were delayed, including five domestic and two international ones.

It added it has yet to verify the exact number of affected passengers.

The MIAA apologized for the inconvenience caused by the incident and said it is looking into all possible ways to avoid any such recurrence.

But Co said they are now also working to expedite the procurement of additional gensets in order to supply more electrical power should there be another outage.

This was the third time that power interruptions hit NAIA after the Labor Day incident and the New Year’s Day fiasco. The two previous outages forced flight cancellations, affecting thousands of passengers and prompting congressional probes.

Earlier, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. apologized for the power outage and technical issues at NAIA on New Year’s Day, and vowed that the government will make sure it will not happen again.

READ: Marcos sorry for NAIA New Year's Day mess, seeks faster airport upgrade