Thousands of travelers were stranded at Philippine airports on Sunday after a “loss of communication” at the country’s busiest hub in Manila forced hundreds of flights to be canceled, delayed or diverted.
Aviation authorities detected in the morning “technical problems” involving air traffic management centers at Manila’s domestic and international airports.
It comes as many people begin to return to the capital for work and school after the Christmas and New Year holidays.
There were chaotic scenes at check-in counters across the country as thousands of people tried to re-book their tickets or find out when flights could take off.
Others who had boarded the plane before the error was announced waited for hours and then turned back.
Airport officials did not specify the cause of the problem, but budget operator Cebu Pacific said in an advisory that it was due to “power failure and loss of communication”.
Airport authorities said the air traffic management system was partially restored at 16:00 (0800 GMT) and flights began taking off and landing in Manila.
“The delay and diversion of flights is only a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of passengers, crew, and aircraft,” the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said.
More than 280 flights in and out of Manila were canceled, diverted or delayed, affecting around 56,000 passengers.
Stranded travelers expressed anger and frustration at the errors and lack of information provided by airport staff.
A woman who was supposed to fly to Singapore said she spent several hours sitting on the plane on the tarmac.
He and his fellow passengers eventually relented and offered a hotel room.
“We were told that there was a complete failure of radio communication in air traffic control,” he told AFP.
Tycoon Manny Pangilinan tweeted that he had been flying from Tokyo to Manila when the plane was diverted to Haneda because “radar and navigation facilities” were down.
“6 hours of flying that is useless but inconvenient for travelers and the loss of tourism and business is terrible. Only in PH. Sigh,” Pangilinan wrote.
Manila passenger Daryll Delgado told AFP he had arranged to rebook his flight for a later date after the “frustrating” experience.
An AFP reporter in the southern city of Davao said travelers were being advised “not to go to the airport” – but many learned that their flights had been canceled after arriving.