More than 9,000 domestic passengers have been affected by the power interruption at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) - Terminal 3 on Monday, Labor Day.

In a joint press briefing of the MIAA, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Manila Electric Company (Meralco), and airline companies on Monday afternoon, MIAA General Manager Cesar Chiong also said that 24 roundtrip flights of Cebu Pacific have been canceled, which represents 6.5 percent of the 760 total flights that NAIA handles a day.

“On behalf of the MIAA, we would like to extend our apologies to all the passengers and all the affected meeters, greeters, and everyone affected by the power outage,” he said.

DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista, meanwhile, noted that no international flights were canceled, but some got delayed.

On the other hand, a Meralco official said they are still trying to determine the real cause that triggered the power interruption.

But he said their initial findings have shown that there was a fault indication in the main circuit breaker of NAIA.

“And that fault na ‘yun ay nag-trigger ng opening ng main circuit breaker nila kaya nawalan ng power. Pero ‘yung fault current na ‘yon umakyat din sa site ng Meralco at ayun ay nagkaroon siya ng circuit tripping,” Meralco official explained.

“Sa ngayon, ay aming tinitingnan ‘yung eksaktong nag cause ng fault current na iyon at hindi po gano’n kadali iyon,” the Meralco official noted.

At about 1:05 am on Monday, power outage hit NAIA Terminal 3, affecting aircon systems and several amenities such as the elevator and escalator.

Following the incident, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos ordered Bautista to restore the normal power operations at the airport’s terminal “as soon as possible” while “providing all necessary assistance to affected passengers.”