The Philippine Airlines flight from Manila was unable to land at Zamboanga city's airport on schedule because there were no traffic controllers around to answer their request to approach the runway, said Mr Reynaldo Alforte, the airport's assistant chief air traffic controller.

'There were two controllers who reported for work a few minutes late, causing delays,' Mr Alforte told The Associated Press.

Two other tower workers scheduled to be on duty were absent on Friday, he said, adding that the case was under investigation.

Alforte said PAL Flight 123 approached the airport several minutes earlier than its scheduled 6.45 am arrival, and the pilots had to hover around the airport waiting for a response to their calls on the radio. He said the plane finally landed at 6.48 am.

Other reports said the delay was even longer. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Chito Atilano, officer-in-charge of PAL in Zamboanga, as saying the plane with 153 passengers was expected to land around 6.23 am. 'but no one was directing traffic so the pilot could not land the aircraft.' PAL's Manila office, contacted on Friday, said the plane landed safely at 6.51 am.

The Inquirer also quoted Zamboanga airport manager Celso Bayabos as saying that the traffic controllers came in late apparently because they were still in a Christmas mood and that he had filed a disciplinary report against them.

Mr Alforte said the two tardy controllers explained they had difficulty getting a ride to work because public transportation was scarce on the day after Christmas. The Philippines, which is more than 80 per cent Roman Catholic, has official holidays from Dec 25 to Jan 2. -- AP