PAL's Cancelled Flight

Our flight from Manila to Coron was scheduled at 2:45pm. We arrived at NAIA 3 about 2 hours before the flight. We waited. Then came the dreaded announcement that our plane will not arrive on time. So we waited again. By 4pm, boarding time was announced. We rode a shuttle bus to our plane and upon entering the small aircraft, I was seated comfortably. 

View from the shuttle bus; about to board the plane

But another dreaded announcement came, the captain said we will have to wait for a few more minutes since the control tower has yet to give a go signal due to runway congestion. Waiting time yet again. The flight attendants already showed the safety features of the aircraft. Then, the plane started moving towards the runway. This is it. But I was wrong.

View from the plane as I wait for the plane to fly

The captain announced, we were third in line on the runway, BUT due to sunset limitation, it would be difficult to land in Coron. Hence, flight was cancelled! After several hours of waiting and when we were already about to fly, the bad news came.

The good news is that Philippine Airlines was following the Air Passenger Bill of Rights. We were given 2 options: 1) hotel accommodation with free meals or 2) you can go home and will be given a voucher worth P1,000.00. We picked option 1.

Bus to hotel

We were booked at the Century Park Hotel in Manila. Buffet dinner and breakfast included. Not bad. PAL staff were also there with us. There was actually another flight booked at the hotel. It seems the hotel staff are used to the delayed flights.

Sign at the hotel lobby

PAL created a special flight just for us for 6am the next day. It was delayed for an hour, but at least it wasn't canceled. Heard one passenger saying, hopefully it wasn't be due to sunrise limitation.

I hope cancelled flights won't happen again since it affects the schedule of a person, not to mention it lessens vacation time for some. But if airlines follow the Bill of Rights, then it makes the delay more acceptable.

Hotel room

Finally, arrived in Coron the next day

Handwritten boarding pass on our return flight to Manila :-)