CAAP suspends Tacloban airport ops for clearing, repairs

On Wednesday, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) suspended its operations at Tacloban Airport to give way for the immediate clearing of foreign object debris (FODs) and the repair of the runway, which will last until 1600 a.m. (4 p.m.) on 3 April 2024.

Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) temporarily suspended its eight (8) flights to and from Tacloban Airport on Wednesday due to an emergency runway repair at the airport.

Due to the runway closure at Tacloban Airport for an emergency repair, the following Cebu Pacific (CEB) flights scheduled for 3 April 2024, are being canceled:

▪︎ 5J 651 and 5J 652 Manila-Tacloban-Manila

▪︎ 5J 653 and 5J 654 Manila-Tacloban-Manila

▪︎ 5J 655 and 5J 656 Manila-Tacloban-Manila

▪︎ 5J 659 and 5J 660 Manila-Tacloban-Manila

While AirAsia is in an ongoing dialogue with CAAP and the airport authorities in Tacloban on the development of the runway closure, once the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) is lifted, the following afternoon Z2 flights are expected to be on schedule: 

▪︎ Z2327 Manila-Tacloban 

▪︎ Z2328 Tacloban-Manila 

▪︎ Z2329 Manila-Tacloban 

▪︎ Z2330 Tacloban-Manila 

AirAsia PH flight Z2 323 (Tacloban to Manila) on Wednesday morning, upon touchdown and routine inspection in Manila, found asphalt debris on its elevator surface.

Having “Safety #1” as our core value, our flight engineers decided to perform non-scheduled maintenance, affecting the following flights with between 15 minutes and a two-hour delay: 

▪︎ Z2354 Manila-Tagbilaran

▪︎ Z2355 Tagbilaran-Manila

▪︎ Z2697 Manila-Cagayan

▪︎ Z2698, Cagayan-Manila

All affected passengers have already been notified by the airline through their reregistered email.

For those affected passengers, CEB offered the option to make a flight rebooking or rerouting, store a travel fund in a valid CEB wallet, or receive a full refund of their ticket.

CEB and AirAsia PH are apologizing for any inconvenience this may have caused.

The airlines are working closely with the CAAP and Tacloban authorities regarding this matter.

They will provide updates as necessary.