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Passengers in a domestic flight from Zamboanga City took more than two hours to disembark at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on Mon evening, Jun 22.
In an interview on dzMM’s SRO, Onjie Cruz, a passenger on Cebu Pacific Flight 5J856, said his flight from Zamboanga City arrived 15 minutes ahead of arrival time. However, it took them more than two hours before they were able to disembark.
“We were waiting, expecting. We thought that probably after 15 minutes we will reach the terminal, which is normal. But 30 minutes passed, [then] almost an hour went by. Nobody was talking to us about what was happening,” Reyes said.
According to Reyes, the pilot told the passengers that there was no available parking bay for the airplane, and that there were two other planes waiting to disembark as well, one ahead of them, and one behind them.
In a statement, Cebu Pacific said the airplane had to wait for an available parking bay before the passengers could disembark.
“Cebu Pacific Flight 5J856 from Zamboanga [City] to Manila landed 15 minutes earlier than its scheduled arrival last night, June 22. Disembarkation was delayed as the flight had to wait for an available parking bay. Passengers were able to disembark at 11:57pm,” the air carrier said in a statement.
David De Castro, public relations officer of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), clarified that the delay was due to other Cebu Pacific airplanes occupying the parking bays.
“The allocated parking bay for Cebu Pacific Flight 5J856 was being utilized by another airplane of the carrier [Cebu Pacific],” De Castro said.
He explained that MIAA had been in constant coordination with the ground handlers of Cebu Pacific to remove the other airplanes from the parking bays.
According to De Castro, passengers of Cebu Pacific Flight 5J856 disembarked at the international wing of Terminal 3 instead.
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
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