Night flights suspended in Legazpi airport

By Mar S. Arguelles LEGAZPI CITY --- The Civil Aeronautics Administration of the Philippines has temporarily suspended since Saturday airplane nightly flights at the Legazpi City Domestic airport after a lightning bolt hit on Friday night damaging the runway threshold identification lights (RTIL), a city top official said today. City Mayor Noel Rosal concurrent Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) chairperson said at least two flights of the Cebu Pacific Airbus with routes Manila-Legazpi-Manila were affected by the night flight cancellation. There are at least nine flights plying the Manila-Legaspi-Manila routes provided by the Cebu Pacific Airlines with eight flights a day of which two flights are in the evening, while the Philippine Airlines has only one flight in the morning. Rosal in a phone interview the suspension of the night flights indeed affected at least two big national conventions scheduled this week, this includes National Nurses Convention which started yesterday with 2,000 delegates and Jaycees Senators convention with 500 delegates. Roland Bocito of CAAP Legazpi when asked for comments about the status of the damaged runway lights he said the CAAP office here could not issue any statement for lack of authority saying that only CAAP central office could release an official statement regarding the matter. Rosal said he has coordinated with the CAAP here and according to him, CAAP is working out the necessary measure to make the necessary repair works to restore back the runway night lights destroyed by the lightning. Rosal quoting a conversation with CAAP official here said CAAP technicians will make the necessary repair works, saying that the runway lights would be operational in a week’s time. Rosal said he asked the agency to install lightning arrester in the runway to prevent similar incidence caused by lightning.