Bohol–Panglao International Airport, also known as New Bohol International Airport, is a new airport on Panglao Island in the province of Bohol, Philippines. It replaced Tagbilaran Airport to support Bohol's increased passenger traffic due to tourism. The airport is dubbed as the first eco-airport in the Philippines and the country’s green gateway. The airport is officially classified as an international airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. The airport serves as the gateway to Tagbilaran and the rest of mainland Bohol for domestic air travellers. It also is less than an hour's flight from Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which is a gateway to the Central Philippines for international tourists. The project originally approved during of Aquino Administration. Change in Project Scope during Duterte Administration. The airport was inaugurated on November 27, 2018 by President Rodrigo Duterte.
History
On September 4, 2003, the NEDA Board of the Philippines approved a resolution giving the green light for the construction of the airport. The proposed airport was to be funded through Official Development Assistance instead of the Public-Private Partnership, an infrastructure-building programme of the government of the Philippines wherein the private sector may participate in any of the schemes authorized by its build-operate-transfer law. On March 27, 2013, the Japan International Cooperation Agency signed an agreement with the Republic of the Philippines to build the Bohol–Panglao International Airport at 10.78 billion yen under the project name New Bohol Airport Construction and Sustainable Environment Protection Project. The signing signaled the roll out for the construction of a new airport in the province of Bohol at an island adjacent to Tagbilaran Airport. Despite the location of the airport, which is just outside of Tagbilaran, it adapted the IATA code: TAG from the old airport, which was located in the heart of Tagbilaran. In its initial plan, the project was expected to finish in 2016, but the opening was delayed to November 2018.
Construction
Initially, the airport's cost was pegged at ₱4.8 billion pesos to build but was later increased. On June 9, 2014, six Japanese firms submitted bids for construction of the proposed airport at a cost of ₱7.14 billion to be funded from official development assistance loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. On December 15, 2014, the Department of Transportation and Communications started its search for bidders to bid out for the operations and maintenance of the airport under a concession model. The Department of Transport initially planned to award a concession for the operating and maintenance of the airport in combination with two other regional airports. However, in February 2017 the DOTr published an announcement that the project would be tendered as a stand-alone concession, targeting the selection of a contractor in early 2018. Following a change of policy, the concession model was eventually abandoned.
Structures and Facilities
Runway
The airport has a asphalt runway that runs in a 03/21 direction. Taxiways E3 and E4 serve as access to the apron from the runway.
Apron
The concrete apron features a total of four parking bays for wide-body aircraft as large as the Airbus A330 or a maximum of seven parking bays for narrow-body aircraft. Also, three passenger jetbridges are installed on the terminal.
Airlines and destinations
Due to cancellation of flights following the COVID-19 pandemic, this list is no longer current and destinations are subject to change without prior notice.
