'Loose asphalt' forces closure of Mactan-Cebu airport runway; 89 flights affected

(2ND UPDATE) Flights experienced delays and schedule changes at the Mactan Cebu International Airport on Saturday afternoon, an airport official said.

Based from records from the Mactan Cebu International Airport Aviation Authority, 89 flights were affected, wherein 77 are domestic and 12 are international.

Aiport General Manager Julius Neri said they had to close the primary runway “to carry out urgent repairs due to loose asphalt in the middle of the runway.” 

“We have done everything we can to complete the repairs as quickly and safely as possible. While repair work on the primary runway was ongoing, we’ve shifted flight operations to our secondary runway and are closely coordinating with our airline partners to minimize inconvenience,” said Neri. 

Operations resumed at 6 p.m. using the second runway. The main runway was reopened at 7:30 p.m.

He said the second runway will be fully operational soon and is confident that the incident will not recur.

Affected passengers were asked to coordinate with airline companies regarding the rebooking of their flights.