Hundreds of passengers were stranded at an airport in Philippine's Tacloban city when it was temporarily closed on Wednesday, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said.
The Daniel Z. Romualdez airport was ordered closed from 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday until 5:00 a.m. on Thursday (local time) to allow time for the repair of a damaged portion of the runway, Xinhua news agency reported.
With the sudden closure of the airport, two airbus aircraft from AirAsia and Cebu Pacific were grounded and six more flights were cancelled affecting hundreds of commuters, Tacloban Area Manager Antonio ALfonso said.
Airport authorities and the airlines affected were accommodating stranded passengers and giving priority to the next available flight out of the Tacloban airport on Thursday.