Over 300 Metro Manila Domestic Flights to Be Rescheduled or Canceled Ahead of Asean Summit 2026

More than 300 domestic flights in Metro Manila will be rescheduled or canceled ahead of the Asean Summit 2026 next week, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Wednesday. Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said the adjustments would accommodate the arrival and departure of foreign delegates and heads of state, with the first arrivals expected on Nov. 14.

Dizon said a major security operation would be mounted in Metro Manila, including at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), where most delegates are expected to land. He said major security operations would be implemented at airports, and expressed confidence in the preparations, noting the government is coordinating with private partners.

Affected passengers will be offered free rebooking with all penalties waived, a full refund, or a travel fund usable for future trips. Dizon said the impact on international carriers would be minimal: occasional delays are possible, but no international flights are expected to be canceled.

He urged travelers to plan ahead, allow extra time to reach the airport, contact their airlines to verify schedules and check airline websites, which carriers have been instructed to keep updated. Details of affected flights will also be posted on the websites of the DOTr and the Civil Aviation Authority.

The DOTr will deploy help desks at NAIA, Clark International Airport and Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA). At NAIA Terminal 1, assistance booths will be at the departure and arrival lobbies; at Terminal 2, at the departure and arrival areas of both the North and South wings; and at Terminal 3, after the arrival customs area and at designated information counters. Help desks will also be at Clark's CAB booth and at MCIA's domestic and international CAB booths.

Head-of-state events concentrate arrivals at a single gateway, and the cheapest capacity to give up is usually short-haul domestic flying. Here the split is explicit: more than 300 domestic flights move or disappear, while international carriers are told to expect at most occasional delays. For operators at a congested hub, that ordering shows whose schedules yield first when security perimeters and delegate movements take priority over normal slot use.

For business aviation, the practical lesson is that special-event windows tighten ramp, parking and departure timing even when the published disruption figures only count scheduled airline flights. Anyone planning movements through Manila around the summit should check slot availability, security restrictions and handling arrangements together rather than relying on the airline-focused rebooking measures.

The next milestone is the Nov. 14 arrival of the first delegates, which will show whether the stated expectation of no international cancellations holds and how the published flight lists on the DOTr and Civil Aviation Authority websites compare with what actually operates.