Air traffic outage in Philippines causes long flight delays

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Nearly 300 domestic and international flights at the Manila airport in the Philippines have been either delayed, canceled or diverted after a power outage hampered air traffic operations. The delays caused misery for over 65,000 passengers during the New Year holiday. Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista in an evening news conference apologized for the inconvenience and said authorities are working to assist all affected passengers. Bautista said the problem started in the morning, when the Air Traffic Management Center, which oversees all flights in Philippine airspace, lost communication, radio, radar, and internet because of the power outage. The air traffic system was restored in late afternoon and flights have resumed though full recovery is expected in 72 hours.