AirAsia cancels, reschedules flights on May 16-17 due to airspace shutdown

Heads up, AirAsia passengers!

The Malaysian airline has announced that it has now canceled and rescheduled some of its flights on May 16 and 17, so expect to experience a few delays and inconveniences during this time.

According to the advisory first released by CNN Philippines, a total of 20 AirAsia flights between flight number sZ2 613 and Z2 888 will be affected by the upcoming shutdown. The delay in departure and arrival ranges from 30 minutes to six hours, with six flights scheduled on May 17 completely canceled.

The move comes in anticipation of the Philippine airspace shutdown that was announced by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

This will be done with the aim to enhance the country's air traffic management system through improving several power supplies such as the Automatic Voltage Regulator, Uninterruptible Power Supply, and the Air Traffic Management A/B power supply.

The shutdown will affect three major airports in the country, namely Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Clark International Airport, and Mactan-Cebu International Airport, as well as 42 other airports operated by CAAP.  

However, this will only last for two hours, from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. according to the aviation authority's spokesman Eric Apolonio.

Since the shutdown will cause some trouble to some passengers who have already booked their flights, Bryan Co, the Manila International Airport Authority Senior Assistant General Manager, said that they can opt for alternative travel options such as rebooking or changing the time of their flight.