Laoag City — A broken runway edge light at Laoag International Airport disrupted night operations, forcing the rescheduling of two Philippine Airlines flights over the weekend.
The issue happened while repair work was ongoing at the airport, prompting officials to temporarily halt night landings and takeoffs for safety reasons. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) immediately issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), which took effect from 4:35 p.m. on Saturday until 7:59 a.m. the following day.
According to airport authorities, the damaged edge light — an essential part of the runway lighting system — made night operations unsafe. A short circuit occurred during repair activities being carried out by Unimasters Conglomeration Inc.
To address the problem, Air Navigation Services installed temporary wiring to partially restore lighting while permanent repairs are underway. Officials said restoring full runway lighting remains a top priority to return operations to normal as soon as possible.
Because of the disruption, Philippine Airlines rescheduled Flight PR 2198 (Manila to Laoag) to 5 January at 1:50 p.m., while Flight PR 2199 (Laoag to Manila) was moved to 3:40 p.m. The airline earlier confirmed that both flights had been canceled due to the lighting issue. Aside from these flights, no other routes were reported to be affected.
Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Matthew Marcos Manotoc said provincial officials are closely coordinating with CAAP to resolve the situation. CAAP Director Raul del Rosario stressed that the decision to suspend night operations was made in the interest of safety.
Officials also clarified that ongoing airport improvement projects, including terminal expansions, are separate from the runway lighting issue and were not involved in the incident.