Flights Resume in Philippines After Typhoon Haiyan

Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines

A devastating typhoon that ravaged the Philippines on Friday with an estimated death toll of over 1,700 caused thousands of flight delays and cancellations in the region as well.   The storm devastated Tacloban, the capital city of the province of Leyte.

As recovery efforts continued, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines tweeted that “[A] ll airports except Tacloban have resumed normal operations already.”

Philippine Airlines, the flag carrier of the Philippines, and Philippines Airlines Express started commercial flights to Tacloban’s Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport via Mactan/Cebu International Airport on Tuesday, to help passengers who were stranded due to the storm, according to an announcement posted on its website.

The airport in Tacloban sustained heavy damages from the strong winds and storm surges and the government temporarily halted commercial jet operations.

As a result of the damage, the government has temporarily halted commercial jet operations in Tacloban.  Philippine Airlines said it would use Bombardier Dash 8 turboprop aircraft to operate the service.

Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific Air, the Philippines’ largest budget carrier, announced it will resume normal flights on Tuesday, November 12, to all destinations except for Tacloban.

The death toll from Typhoon Haiyan was raised to 1,744, a number far greater than earlier counts, although this number is still unconfirmed, and some news sites such as the BBC put the estimate closer to 10,000.  The storm is one of the most powerful ever to strike the country.

While the cleanup and rescue effort continued in the Philippines, thousands of people in China were evacuated from the resort city of Sanya, in Hainan Province, as Typhoon Haiyan continued to wreak havoc in south Asia on Monday.

(Photo: Chris Tomnong)