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BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Tuesday, October 17, 2017
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ILOILO City – The Iloilo International Airport has reopened yesterday afternoon after nearly three days of shutdown.
All domestic and international flights resumed after the Cebu Pacific aircraft (Airbus 320) that overshot the runway late Friday night last week was towed away from a grassy part of the airport where it got stuck in mud.
According to Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) spokesperson Eric Apolonio, it took them some time to remove the aircraft due to, among others, the inclement weather.
CAAP announced the reopening of the airport around 2 p.m.
Cebu Pacific rescheduled the following flights yesterday:
- 5J 457 Manila-Iloilo, 10:30 a.m. – resumed at 2 p.m.
- 5J 458 Iloilo-Manila, 12:10 p.m. – resumed at 3:40 p.m.
- 5J 262 Puerto Princesa-Iloilo, 10:55 a.m. – resumed at 2:25 p.m.
- 5J 449 Manila-Iloilo, 12 noon – resumed at 2:10 p.m.
- 5J 450 Iloilo-Manila, 2 p.m. – resumed at 3:50 p.m.
- 5J 165 Iloilo-Cebu, 12:30 p.m. – resumed at 4:20 p.m.
- 5J 164 Cebu-Iloilo, 2:05 p.m. – resumed at 5:30 p.m.
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5J 695 Iloilo-Cagayan de Oro, 3:20 p.m. – resumed at 6:45 p.m.
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5J 696 Cagayan de Oro-Iloilo, 4:45 p.m. – resumed at 8:10 p.m.
- 5J 462 Iloilo-Manila, 6:50 p.m. – resumed at 9:35 p.m.
“We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Department of Transportation, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Manila International Airport Authority, Civil Aeronautics Board, the local government of Iloilo, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for their assistance,” a statement from Cebu Pacific read.
It also thanked its partners and suppliers for their support.
“Most importantly, we thank our passengers for their patience and understanding,” according to Cebu Pacific.
CAAP’s investigation of the runway overshooting, however, is still ongoing. On Saturday, Apolonio said “the nose gear missed the runway.”
All 180 passengers and flight crew of the plane from Manila were safe.
The flight left the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila at 10 p.m. Friday.
After the runway overshooting, other flights to Iloilo were immediately diverted to the airports in Kalibo, Aklan; Roxas City in Capiz; and Bacolod City in Negros Occidental./PN
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