MANILA, Philippines – Chinese airline Xiamen Air will have to pay an initial P15 million to the Philippine government, excluding the total revenue impact of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway accident that paralyzed operations at the country’s premier airport for nearly two days.

In an interview on ANC’s Headstart on Tuesday, August 21, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Ed Monreal said the initial amount only covers the rental cost of equipment used to remove the aircraft from the shoulder of the NAIA runway.

“Right now, there are only two aspects computed, P15 million, but still a lot. It covers rental of crane and manpower, and rentals of our equipment. But there are a lot of things to consider,” Monreal said.

 The MIAA chief said he gave airline executives an idea of what they would have to shell out over the incident, which caused flight cancellations and diversions that affected thousands of passengers, and continued to affect flights even after the runway was reopened. 

“[I told them], ‘This is not going to be easy. There will be costs involved. And I will charge all the costs,'” Monreal said.

He added that Xiamen Air executives were already informed that they have to pay the Philippine government.

The Chinese airline apologized to the public for the incident 4 days after its plane skidded off NAIA international runway 06/24 late Thursday night, August 16.

The recovery operation took 36 hours. (READ: What to do when your flight gets canceled) – Rappler.com