Add Category
A Qantas flight bound for the Philippines has been turned back about three hours into its journey, temporarily disrupting passengers' new year travel plans.
Key points:
- A power outage at Manila International Airport caused more than 300 flights to be delayed, diverted or cancelled
- The Philippines' main airport was operating at roughly 75 per cent capacity, according to airport sources
- An airport source said it will take roughly three days for normal service to resume
The QF19 flight was travelling from Sydney to Manila on Sunday afternoon when Philippine authorities closed the airspace due to a power outage, forcing the plane to return to the NSW capital.
The Airbus A330 was flying over Queensland's north coast, just below Papua New Guinea when it made the U-turn.
The plane was refuelled at Sydney before re-departing for Manila, arriving in the early hours of Monday local time.
"All airlines were prevented from arriving into Manila on Sunday afternoon as local authorities closed the local airspace," a Qantas spokesperson said in a statement.
The turnback follows Qantas' budget carrier Jetstar apologising last week after a flight to Bali returned to Melbourne hours after take-off because of a miscommunication with Indonesian authorities.
A United Airways flight from Los Angeles to Sydney was also forced to make an emergency landing at Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa on Friday morning (local time) due to a mechanical issue.
Power problems
Sunday's power outage caused the closure of the airspace at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport, prompting more than 360 domestic and international flights to and from the airport to be delayed, cancelled or diverted.
Transportation Secretary Jaime J Bautista said the problem began when the the country's air traffic control centre lost communication, radio, radar, and internet because of the power cut.
He apologised for the inconvenience and said authorities were working to assist affected passengers.
Airport scrambles to restore services
The Philippines' main gateway remained on reduced operations on Monday, with authorities scrambling to resume a full service.
A maximum 15 aircraft per hour were arriving, compared to 20 during normal operations, general manager Cesar Chiong said.
The power outage was the result of the unprecedented failure of both primary and secondary power supplies, he said.
"It will take around 72 hours or thereabout for the airlines to normalise their operations," Mr Chiong told ANC news channel.
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines said it was arranging recovery flights out of the United States, Singapore and Malaysia and diverting some flights to domestic airports.
Budget carrier Cebu Pacific cancelled 54 domestic flights on Monday.
Mr Chiong said the airport had introduced its own power system in 2018, but on Sunday, both the main and backup systems failed.
The airport has previously been ranked among the world's worst international gateways, with delays a regular occurrence, and a history of upgrades being delayed or abandoned due to disputes between the airport and contractors.
The Philippines hopes to take pressure off by building multi-billion dollar airports in Manila's surrounding provinces, including Cavite and also in Bulacan, which is due to start operations in 2027.
Reuters/AAP/AP