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Sea and air port operations are back to normal after the global technology outage that affected Microsoft systems on July 19
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The Windows system of Manila International Container Terminal operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc went online on the afternoon of July 19
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Asian Terminals Inc operations at South Harbor and Batangas ports were unaffected
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The Manila International Airport Authority said Ninoy Aquino International Airport operations were “normalized” by late evening of July 19
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By the afternoon of July 20, all operations for airlines at NAIA Terminal 3 were also back to normal, according to MIAA
Sea and air port operations are back to normal after the global technology outage that affected Microsoft systems on July 19.
Late afternoon on the same day, International Container Terminal Inc’s Windows system went online again, the Philippine Ports Authority said.
Still, long queues at the pier were reported during the weekend.
The outage on July 19 was triggered by a faulty update from Microsoft cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike.
ICTSI, which operates the Manila International Container Terminal among other terminals in the Philippines, said it received the “official tested workaround solution from CrowdStrike” on July 19 and promptly applied such to its systems.
PPA said it was one of the first government agencies that worked with ICTSI to respond and bring back up systems at the ports.
In a marketing circular on July 19 Asian Terminals, Inc (ATI) said the South Harbor and the Batangas port it operates, do not use CrowdStrike so both systems were unaffected by the outage.
But since the crash affected such industries as banks, including Metrobank, causing potential slowdown or temporary unavailability of some bank products, including ATI e-payment, ATI advised port users to transact with other banks.
By early evening of July 19, however, Metrobank said its online bank channels were up and running.
Air operations
The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) reported that operations at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have been “normalized” by 11 pm on July 19, and that “all operations are back to normal for airlines” at NAIA Terminal 3 by the afternoon of July 20.
Chris Bendijo, MIAA head executive assistant, said “While the affected airlines were recovering from the passenger buildup and request for rebooking, a few counters of one affected airline was still doing manual check-in this morning which was only fully restored online around 12 noon (Saturday).”
Cebu Pacific said its technology provider had restored services to full capacity by early morning of July 20.
In a 1:30pm advisory on July 20, the low-cost airline said its technical teams have made significant progress in restoring systems.
“Automated check-in, booking, and other systems are now operational,” it said.
“As we return our aircraft and crew to their correct bases, our flight operations continue to normalize, and we therefore anticipate to be able to operate all remaining flights for today (July 20).”
A day after the outage, about 45 international and domestic flights were canceled.
Apart from Cebu Pacific, MIAA said seven local and international airlines were affected: AirAsia, Eithad, Jeju Air, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Japan, Scoot and Hong Kong Express.
Cebu Pacific and its sister company Cebgo canceled 34 flights on July 19 and 38 on July 20.
AirAsia said its system was back online by 2 pm on July 20, but still warned of “multiple delays and cancellations.”
“We ask for patience among our guests, as we recover from multiple delays and cancellations as a result of the global IT outage yesterday that is beyond our control,” it also said.
