NAIA runway closure extended until early Saturday morning

MANILA, Philippines — The temporary closure of Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s main runway has been extended until early Saturday morning.

Aviation authorities said they will reopen the airport’s runway on Saturday at 5 a.m.

This was the third extension of the runway closure. Aviation officials earlier extended the closure to 7 p.m. from the initial 4 p.m. schedule.

Authorities are still trying to extract the Xiamen Airlines aircraft, which landed on its second attempt at the NAIA before skidding onto the grass and ripping off its left engine late Thursday.

The incident prompted aviation authorities to close the airport’s main runway until 7 p.m., forcing some airlines to cancel, delay or reroute flights.

The accident has delayed thousands of passengers, including holidaymakers traveling ahead of a long weekend.

In a press briefing Friday afternoon, Manila International Airport Authority general manager Ed Monreal said they have gained “slight improvements” on the extraction of the aircraft despite the soft condition of soil, which he said, is hampering their efforts.

Monreal noted that aviation authorities rented telescopic boom cranes to speed up the process of extracting the plane.

“Kailangang maalis na dahil alam namin ang epekto sa mananakay… The authorities are doing their best to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” he said.

The extraction of the Xiamen Airlines plane is underway as of writing. — Gaea Katreena Cabico with report from Agence France-Presse