Thirty-seven international and domestic flights had to be diverted to other airports in the country after thick haze blanketed the path leading to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Saturday morning.

The haze, which is an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke, and other dry particles obscure the clarity of sky, affected the path leading to the Manila runway causing pilots to miss the runway.

Lito Casaul, a technical consultant at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines disclosed that there was almost “zero visibility” at the airport causing the pilots to miss the approach to Runway 24.

According to Casaul, visibility at the airport dropped to one kilometer forcing them to temporarily not allow landings.

Casaul added that they allow airplanes to land at the NAIA only when visibility is four kilometers or more.

The problem was compounded as both the Instrument Landing System and the Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Radio Range (VOR) station, two electronic navigational aids that help pilots land their aircraft even in poor visibility, are still not working.

Personnel from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) stationed at the NAIA said haze is normally a result of pollution in the air.

However, the haze at the airport was thicker than usual on Saturday.

With the thick haze blanketing the airport, eight international flights and 29 domestic flights bound for Manila were diverted to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Pampanga, while waiting for the visibility at the NAIA to improve.

Four international flights, including two from Cathay Pacific, opted to just fly in circles above the Manila airspace until conditions improved by noon.

Cathay Pacific flight CX907 which was supposed to arrive at 9:55 a.m. flew in circles above Metro Manila for two hours, while CX901 was scheduled to arrive at 11:15 a.m. circled the air for 55 minutes before finally being able to land.

Aseana flight OZ701 from Seoul, South Korea, and EVA Air 271 from Taipei also opted to fly in circles and were able to land after one hour of waiting up in the air.

The diverted flights started to arrive by noon with all flights arriving at NAIA by 3 p.m.

Theresa Osmena-Lugar, a balikbayan who arrived from San Diego, California aboard one of the diverted flights, complained of the poor facilities at the DMIA.