Manila Radar Maintenance and Upgrade – Avoid flying from March 6 to 11, 2017! * * * Update #1 * * *

Manila Radar Maintenance and Upgrade will heavily  disturb flight operations.

Pursuant to the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Tagaytay RADAR will undergo maintenance and upgrade within the period of 06 March 2017 to 11 March 2017.

Here is one of a series of NOTAMS:

B0518/17 NOTAMN Q) RPHI/QMRXX/IV/NBO/A /000/999/1431N12101E005 A) RPLL B) 1703052200 C) 1703082220 E) RWY 13/31 TECHNICAL INSPECTION SUSPENDED. CREATED: 13 Feb 2017 04:58:00 SOURCE: EUECYIYN

Translation for non pilots:

All NOTAMS belonging to this Manila Radar Maintenance and Upgrade works can be found here.

Does this Manila Radar thing affect my flight?

If you have a flight from or to Manila International Airport (MNL/RPLL) between 06 March 2017 and 11 March 2017 then you should get in contact with your airline. The restrictions affect all flights, even those who just fly over the Philippines.

Philippine Airlines was the first of the local airlines to publish a list of cancelled flights. Their whole cancellations list is available here! We expect the other airlines to publish their lists within 1 to 3 days. CAAP had given the airlines time until last Thursday to update and submit their schedules (flight slots) for the 6 days radar interruption. The airlines’ webmasters and dispatchers encounter a tough time.

We are monitoring several airlines operating from Manila. As soon as we get information, we’ll inform you with updates of this article. So come back frequently in the next days.

What is happening in Manila?

The Tagaytay is one of 3 radar stations in the Philippines to control and supervise all air traffic from ground level (Flight level 000) to the stratosphere (Flight level 999). The other radar stations are in Laoag and on Mount Majic in Cebu. The  Tagaytay radar covers 200 nautical miles (nm) of airspace. It is primarily used to direct incoming flights from all over the world toward the terminal radar, located beside the Manila International Airport (NAIA) runway 06-24.

The installation in Tagaytay is complex and unfortunately a bit old. The maintenance  covers the overhauling of antenna and replacement of its drive motor and rotary joints. The closure is also to prepare the integration of the Tagaytay radar with the CNS/ATM, which will be fully operational by December this year. CNS/ATM means Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management.

Pilots flying in the airspace controlled by Tagaytay Radar will have to update many pages in their handbooks. The full list has been published in this NOTAMS.

The blue tower with the white bowl belongs to PAGASA. It is the Doppler Radar that supplies long range precipitation information. One of the services that uses this installation is the DOST Project Noah. I just now checked this Doppler Radar on Noah. It looks like this:

Seems to be a bit rainy east of Manila.

Here we’ll publish the updates:

Cebu Pacific Air and CebGo have now also released their lists of cancellations.

March 6, 2017 (Monday)

Cebu Pacific Flights
5J487/488     Manila – Bacolod – Manila
5J 397/398     Manila – Cagayan de Oro – Manila
5J 885/886     Manila – Cotabato – Manila
5J 953/954    Manila – Davao – Manila
5J 997/998    Manila – Gensan – Manila
5J 457/458    Manila – Iloilo – Manila
5J 339/340    Manila – Kalibo – Manila
5J 325/326    Manila – Legazpi – Manila
5J 639/640    Manila – Puerto Princesa – Manila
5J 855/856    Manila – Zamboanga – Manila
5J 857/858    Manila – Zamboanga – Manila

Cebgo Flights
DG 6245/6246 Manila – Caticlan – Manila
DG 6026/6027 Manila – Cauayan – Manila
DG 6317/6318     Manila – Kalibo – Manila
DG 6323/6324     Manila – Kalibo – Manila
DG 6193/6194 Manila – Legazpi – Manila
DG 6195/6196 Manila – Legazpi – Manila
DG 6117/6118 Manila – Naga – Manila

March 7, 2017 (Tuesday)

Cebu Pacific Flights
5J 483/484     Manila – Bacolod – Manila
5J 487/488     Manila – Bacolod – Manila
5J 379/380     Manila – Cagayan de Oro – Manila
5J 397/398     Manila – Cagayan de Oro – Manila
5J 399/400     Manila – Cagayan de Oro – Manila
5J 567/568     Manila – Cebu – Manila
5J 572/571     Cebu – Manila – Cebu
5J 891/892     Manila – Caticlan – Manila
5J 339/340    Manila – Kalibo – Manila
5J 327/328    Manila – Legazpi – Manila
5J 639/640    Manila – Puerto Princesa – Manila
5J 617/618    Manila – Tagbilaran – Manila
5J 506/507    Manila – Tuguegarao – Manila

Cebgo Flights
DG 6245/6246 Manila – Caticlan – Manila
DG 6024/6025 Manila – Cauayan – Manila
DG 6026/6027 Manila – Cauayan – Manila
DG 6317/6318     Manila – Kalibo – Manila
DG 6323/6324     Manila – Kalibo – Manila
DG 6195/6196 Manila – Legazpi – Manila
DG 6113/6114 Manila – Naga – Manila
DG 6117/6118 Manila – Naga – Manila
March 8, 2017 (Wednesday)

Cebu Pacific Flights
5J 483/484     Manila – Bacolod – Manila
5J 485/486     Manila – Bacolod – Manila
5J 487/488     Manila – Bacolod – Manila
5J 555/578    Manila – Cebu – Manila
5J 565/566    Manila – Cebu – Manila
5J 977/978    Manila – Davao – Manila
5J 995/996    Manila – Gensan – Manila
5J 339/340    Manila – Kalibo – Manila
5J 639/640    Manila – Puerto Princesa – Manila
5J 649/650    Manila – Tacloban – Manila
5J 855/856    Manila – Zamboanga – Manila

Cebgo Flights
DG 6245/6246 Manila – Caticlan – Manila
DG 6024/6025 Manila – Cauayan – Manila
DG 6317/6318     Manila – Kalibo – Manila
DG 6323/6324     Manila – Kalibo – Manila
DG 6193/6194 Manila – Legazpi – Manila
DG 6195/6196 Manila – Legazpi – Manila
DG 6111/6112 Manila – Naga – Manila
DG 6113/6114 Manila – Naga – Manila

March 9, 2017 (Thursday)

Cebu Pacific Flights
5J 481/482     Manila – Bacolod – Manila
5J 483/484     Manila – Bacolod – Manila
5J 397/398     Manila – Cagayan de Oro – Manila
5J 565/566    Manila – Cebu – Manila
5J 647/648    Manila – Puerto Princesa – Manila
5J 649/650    Manila – Tacloban – Manila
5J 617/618    Manila – Tagbilaran – Manila
5J 506/507    Manila – Tuguegarao – Manila
5J 853/854    Manila – Zamboanga – Manila

Cebgo Flights
DG 6245/6246 Manila – Caticlan – Manila
DG 6026/6027 Manila – Cauayan – Manila
DG 6323/6324     Manila – Kalibo – Manila
DG 6193/6194 Manila – Legazpi – Manila
DG 6195/6196 Manila – Legazpi – Manila
DG 6113/6114 Manila – Naga – Manila
DG 6117/6118 Manila – Naga – Manila

March 10, 2017 (Friday)

Cebu Pacific Flights
5J 483/484     Manila – Bacolod – Manila
5J 487/488     Manila – Bacolod – Manila
5J 383/384     Manila – Cagayan de Oro – Manila
5J 391/392     Manila – Cagayan de Oro – Manila
5J 969/972    Manila – Davao – Manila
5J 977/978    Manila – Davao – Manila
5J 627/628    Manila – Dumaguete – Manila
5J 445/446    Manila – Iloilo – Manila
5J 457/458    Manila – Iloilo – Manila
5J 339/340    Manila – Kalibo – Manila
5J 635/636    Manila – Puerto Princesa – Manila
5J 639/640    Manila – Puerto Princesa – Manila
5J 649/650    Manila – Tacloban – Manila
5J 855/856    Manila – Zamboanga – Manila
5J 859/860    Manila – Zamboanga – Manila

Cebgo Flights
DG 6245/6246 Manila – Caticlan – Manila
DG 6024/6025 Manila – Cauayan – Manila
DG 6026/6027 Manila – Cauayan – Manila
DG 6317/6318     Manila – Kalibo – Manila
DG 6323/6324     Manila – Kalibo – Manila
DG 6195/6196 Manila – Legazpi – Manila
DG 6111/6112 Manila – Naga – Manila
DG 6117/6118 Manila – Naga – Manila

[GARD]