Twenty-one domestic and international flights were delayed as the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) issued a red lightning alert twice on Sunday afternoon.
The management issued the red lightning alert from 2:24 p.m. to 3:11 p.m., and from 3:43 p.m. to 4:03 p.m.
Despite the delay, no cancelled flights were reported due to the alert.
During a red lightning alert, the ramp movement for both aircraft and ramp personnel is temporarily suspended. This is a safety measure to prevent any untoward incident from happening when lightning is prevalent in the immediate area and may endanger passenger, personnel and flight operations.
Exactly a week ago, on June 9, the MIAA also issued a red lightning alert, which resulted in the delay of a number of domestic and international flights and these were diverted to Clark.
This prompted President Rodrigo R. Duterte to conduct a surprise inspection at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the wee hours of June 10. The President ordered for the operations in Sangley Point to start immediately to ease congestion at the country’s main gateway.(By Ma. Cristina Arayata)
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