The VHF Omnidirectional Radio Range (VOR) station at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is still down as technicians are still busy re-installing and powering-up each module of the system to make sure that it works properly.

The VOR, used to guide pilots land their aircraft during low visibility and bad weather, conked out last Saturday forcing aviation authorities to suspend night flight operations at the Manila runways.

With the system still down, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) once again extended the Notice to Airmen (Notam) they issued last Saturday to 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The Notam informs the aviation community that there is limited runway operations in Manila and that Visual Flight Rules (VFR) are in effect.

Lito Casaul, the Technical Assistant of CAAP chief Alfonso Cusi disclosed that they had to borrow more modules from the Subic airport VOR station hoping that the technicians can finally get the system running.

“Once the system is up, they will spend another day reconfiguring and calibrating the system before VOR putting it back on line,” Casaul said.

Even if the VOR system is back on line, Cusi and Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Melvin Matibag are mulling the purchase of a new VOR system to replace the old one.

It was learned that the VOR in Manila was due for replacement next year, but with the system breakdown, Cusi and Matibag are now trying to decide if they can push through with an emergency purchase of a new VOR from Europe.

The VOR station was installed in 1996 and has a lifetime of 15 years. The previous CAAP administration has already programmed its replacement in 2011 but with this breakdown, the CAAP is planning to purchase a new system as soon as possible.

“The emergency purchase should be done out of necessity,” Casaul said. “The CAAP is doing everything to address this high profile situation. We are talking about the safety of passengers here so the acquisition of a new system is justifiable,” Casaul added.

When asked where a system could be acquired, Casaul said they have instructed the officials from the CAAP’s Air Navigation System (ANS) to check what needs to be replaced and immediately come up with a list of equipment to be purchased.

Casaul said they have no suppliers yet but added that navigational aid suppliers usually come from the European Union or from Singapore.

The system reportedly costs P90 million.

Meanwhile, flight operations have returned to normal since Sunday morning with no flight cancellations being recorded from Sunday evening to Monday afternoon.

But with the 65 flights cancelled because of the incident, it was the learned that the airport authority was bound to lose approximately P1 million from landing, take off and terminal fees.

Cebu Pacific, the airline company that was affected the most by the incident, is bound to lose more as they have to rebook almost 4,000 passengers that had been affected by the flight cancellations.