A pre-dawn Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight bound for Iloilo was forced to return to Manila early Thursday, Oct, 16, after the Iloilo International Airport runway was temporarily closed for rehabilitation, according to aviation authorities.
The PAL flight, which took off around 4:05 a.m., was already 25 minutes into the air when the pilot announced a diversion back to Manila after receiving notice that Iloilo’s control tower and runway were closed.
Some passengers feared a technical issue with the aircraft, but the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Iloilo clarified that the diversion was part of a scheduled runway maintenance activity to ensure aviation safety.
“This was a planned closure connected to ongoing rehabilitation works on the runway. Aviation safety is one of our primordial concerns,” said Art Pareño, terminal supervisor of CAAP Iloilo, in an interview with IMT NEWS.
Pareño said that a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) had been issued earlier to inform airlines of the brief runway closure. He also confirmed that as of 8:00 a.m. today, normal airport operations have resumed.
He acknowledged that check-in counters for Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific became congested following the temporary closure but added that airline personnel managed the situation efficiently.
Pareño stressed that the closure was unrelated to recent earthquakes in the Visayas, saying it was part of the runway rehabilitation program to maintain compliance with national and international safety standards.
“Everything is now back to normal,” Pareño assured. “The brief inconvenience was necessary to ensure the continued safety of all flights operating in and out of Iloilo.”IMT
