At least 10 commercial aircraft of the Republic of Taiwan sought refuge at the Clark International Airport late Thursday afternoon due to Super Typhoon Nepartak (local name Butchoy).
Ding Aranas, manager of the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) Terminal Operations, said among the aircraft are TransAsia Airways A320 and A321; three ATR72 aircraft; Mandarin Airlines A320; two ERJ190; and two TigarAir Taiwan A320s which sought refuge at Clark Airport in the Philippines.
Aranas said that the aircraft arrived at Clark airport late Thursday afternoon to escape from the fury of Super Typhoon Nepartak which battered parts of Taiwan on Friday.
He said that Clark airport has been accommodating other aircraft from foreign countries for emergency purposes. Clark airport has a wide parking space for aircraft.
Aranas said that Clark airport is always ready especially during times of calamity to assist airlines from nearby countries in Asia.
The Clark Civil Aviation Complex is about 2,367 hectares located inside Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga province. The airport has a 3.2-kilometer parallel runway built by the US military until they pulled out in 1991 due to the termination of the US Bases Agreement and the subsequent eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991.
More planes arrive
Three more commercial aircraft arrived at the Clark International Airport due to bad weather in Manila.
An Air Asia Airbus 320 from Mactan-Cebu, Cebu Pacific Air A320 from Bacolod and Asiana Airlines from Incheon bound for NAIA were also diverted to the Clark airport.
The aircraft arrived at around 11:30 a.m. on Friday due to the bad weather spawned by Super Typhoon Butchoy.