CEBU, Philippines – After a one-day closure of the Tacloban DZR Airport, from the morning today to tomorrow, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines will limit the use of the airport to small turbo prop planes only.
The CAAP, in a statement, said: "Small turbo propeller planes may resume using the runway after repairs on Sept 3 and 4 are done, but jets can't use the runway for months until the total replacement of the 5-inch overlay is complete."
As such, Cebu Pacific Airline has announced it is cancelling all of its flights from Manila and Cebu to the Tacloban airport on September 3.
Philippine Airlines, Air Asia and Tiger Airways have also cancelled their flights to and from Tacloban on the same date.
Cebu Pacific said: "Passengers in these flights will be re-accommodated in the soonest available flights, or they may rebook their flight within 30 days from original departure date; reroute the flight to the alternate station (Cebu); or request for a full travel fund or full refund."
It was learned that all air carriers of the Tacloban route had an emergency meeting and decided to cancel their flights because of the growing potholes on the runway, posing safety concerns to both passengers and their aircrafts.
CAAP, on the other hand, committed to do emergency runway repairs in one day but it was also agreed that when flights resume, its use would be limited to smaller planes until the runway is totally reconstructed.
A total of 24 flights to and from Tacloban will be affected by the closure. This is not the first time that the Tacloban DZR airport was abruptly closed. The last time was on July 9.
Lawyer Avito Cahig from Baybay City said he was dismayed with the unannounced cancellations even if they were given the chance to re-route.
"I didn't like it," he said, adding "I took a flight for Calbayog City and it took me half a day to get to Baybay. I cannot understand why the airport is still in bad shape when they have increased the terminal fee to P100 already."