MANILA: On Sunday, hundreds of flights were canceled, delayed, or diverted as a result of a "loss of communication" at Manila, the busiest hub in the Philippines. This left thousands of travelers stranded at Philippine airports.
The air traffic management center at Manila's domestic and international airports was the subject of an early morning "technical issue" that was discovered by aviation authorities.
After the holidays of Christmas and New Year, many people began to return to the capital for work and school.
As thousands of people attempted to rebook tickets or determine when their flight might take off, check-in counter scenes across the nation were chaotic.
Other people who had loaded up their airplane before the error was declared sat tight for quite a long time and afterward were deplaned.
Although budget airline Cebu Pacific stated in an advisory that the issue was caused by a "power outage and loss of communication," airport officials did not specify the nature of the issue.
By 4:00 p.m. (0800 GMT), the air traffic management system had been partially restored, and flights were beginning to take off and land in Manila, according to airport officials.
"The flight deferrals and redirections are just careful steps to guarantee the wellbeing of travelers, team, and airplane," the Common Avionics Authority of the Philippines said.
Around 56,000 passengers were affected by the cancellation, divergence, or delay of more than 280 flights into and out of Manila.
Travelers who found themselves stranded voiced their outrage and annoyance at the malfunction and the lack of information provided by airport staff.
A woman who was supposed to fly to Singapore said she sat in the plane on the tarmac for several hours.
In the end, she and the other passengers deplaned and were given hotel rooms.
She told AFP, "We were told it was a complete failure of radio communications at air traffic control."
Manny Pangilinan, the tycoon, wrote on Twitter that he was flying from Tokyo to Manila when the plane was diverted to Haneda because "radar and navigation facilities" were down.
"Flying for six hours is pointless, but it also causes traveler inconvenience and terrible losses to tourism and business. Only in PH. Moan," Pangilinan composed.
After a "frustrating" experience, Manila passenger Daryll Delgado told AFP she was able to rebook her flight for a later date.
Travelers were told "not to head to the airport," according to an AFP reporter in the southern city of Davao; however, many only discovered that their flight had been canceled when they arrived at the airport to check in.