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The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines will conduct a corrective maintenance activity at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center on May 3 and May 17
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This will affect flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Clark International Airport, and Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and several flights at the other 42 CAAP commercially operated airports
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Operations at the ATMC will be suspended from 02:00 a.m. until 04:00 a.m. on May 3, 2023 and 12:00 midnight until 6:00 a.m. on May 17
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Mitigating measures and flight schedule adjustments have been discussed with stakeholders to ensure the smooth conduct of the imperative maintenance activity
Fights at various airports will be affected when the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) conducts a corrective maintenance activity at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) on May 3 and May 17.
The maintenance activity will mainly affect flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Clark International Airport and Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and several flights at the other 42 CAAP commercially operated airports.
The work involves repairing the automatic voltage regulator (AVR), replacing the uninterruptible power supply (UPS), and upgrading the air traffic management system (ATMS) A/B power supply, CAAP said in a statement.
Operations at the ATMC will be suspended from 2am until 4am on May 3, 2023 and 12 midnight until 6am on May 17, 2023. If completed earlier, the issued Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) will be lifted, and operations at the ATMC will resume as normal.
CAAP said it has already coordinated with and advised concerned stakeholders such as air carriers and airport operators Manila International Airport Authority, Luzon International Premiere Airport Development Corp., and GMR–Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation regarding the intended activity.
Mitigating measures and flight schedule adjustments have been discussed with stakeholders to ensure the smooth conduct of the maintenance works.
“The CAAP assures the public that once the maintenance activity is completed, operations at the ATMC will resume as normal and will allow CAAP-ATMC to serve the flying public better and ensure continued flight safety,” CAAP said.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding and cooperation in ensuring the safety and efficiency of our air traffic management system,” CAAP added.
The ATMC houses the communications, navigations, surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) system, which manages and supervises the air traffic activities within the Philippine Flight Information Region.
It may be recalled that on January 1, the power supply of CAAP’s CNS/ATM system broke down and resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights in the country. CAAP director general Manuel Antonio Tamayo had said the CNS/ATM system “at this point in time is still state of the art and a gold standard as far as air traffic control is concerned” but needs upgrade on the software and hardware.
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The ATMS power supply upgrade will involve installation of a bypass panel to provide seamless ATMS operation and the reconfiguration of the existing distribution panel to segregate ATM system A (voice) and ATM system B (data), resulting with the UPS and AVR serving as each other’s backup in case the other power supply encounters a problem.
An AVR functions as a protection against surges as it regulates the voltage delivered to devices and a UPS ensures equipment has uninterruptible power supply.
