XiamenAir penalty soars to 172 million

The government has raised the fine to be imposed on XiamenAir at 172 million following a runway mishap involving its aircraft last August 16 that paralyzed the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) .

At the resumption of the Sen- ate Committee on Public Services' inquiry Monday on the incident which shut down the main NAIA runway and resulted in dozens of cancelled, delayed and diverted flights and thousands of marooned passengers, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Ed Monreal said the penalty to be meted against to the Chinese airline has ballooned to P72 million.

Ready to pay XiamenAir management, Monreal vowed to settle the penalty through its representatives who are set to arrive in the country this week.

In the first Senate hearing last August 29, Monreal pegged the fine at 133 million to cover the expenses of the MIAA in removing the disabled plane from the runway.

"There was already an indication [of the payment], that from September 12 to 14, they will go here. And they gave their assurance that they will pay," Monreal told Senator Grace Poe, committee chairwoman.

The 172-million fine, however, is not yet final. Monreal said.

"Mayroon pa po kaming pinag-uusapang karagdagang 142 milyon (We are also discussing about an additional 142 million)," Monreal said.

Review The MIAA has yet to disclose the grounds for the penalties to be imposed on XiamenAir.

"None yet, we are still discussing it. We are still reviewing it," Monreal told the Manila Bulletin in a chance interview after the hearing.

But he noted that it covers the "full actual cost" of the MIAA operations during the runway mishap.

Other airlines

Aside from Xiamen, other airlines will also face fines for uncoordinated flights after the removal of the XiamenAir aircraft from the runway.

Monreal said there were 78 uncoordinated flights, not 61 as earlier reported.

He said that majority, if not all, were international flights.

Pilot’s tale

Meanwhile, XiamenAir assured that the pilot of the ill-fated Xiamen Air flight MF8667 will cooperate in the investigation of the runway accident.

"Xiamen has repeatedly assured that we'll fully cooperate in the investigation. So I will expect that the pilot will be available whether physically or perhaps, electronically...for possible interview by the investigative committee," said a Xiamen Airline representative.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has yet to conclude its investigation of the incident.

The black box CAAP Director General Jim Sydiongco said they are analyzing the initial findings of flight data recording on the conversation between the air traffic control tower and the XiamenAir pilot before the plane veered off the NAIA runway late August 16.

He said they are finalizing the chronology of events.

Sydiongco, however, refused to divulge the conclusion of the review of the flight data recorder earlier conducted in Singapore, because it would supposedly violate international aviation protocols.

"This is what we are protecting because we don't want to break international protocols...We cannot release if we are not sure about the conclusion," he said, adding that they should consult the XiamenAir and its pilot.