Puerto Princesa International Airport
Puerto Princesa International Airport is an airport serving the general area of Puerto Princesa, located in the province of Palawan in the Philippines. It is classified as an international airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
The airport is the main gateway to the Puerto Princesa Underground River, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
History
World War II
The airport was built by American POWs during the World War II from August 1942 to September 1944. It was used to accommodate large Japanese transport aircraft to complement the grass airstrip south of the present-day location of NCCC Mall Palawan in Lacao Street. The airstrip was constructed by hand by the POW using crushed corals for illuminating night landings. The finished airfield has an area of 7,200 ft by 675 ft with two runways.On December 14, 1944, occupying Japanese soldiers herded 150 remaining American POWs who had constructed the air strip on Palawan Island into air raid trenches, doused them with gasoline, set them afire, then machine-gunned and bayoneted them to death. Among them was Army Capt. Fred Bruni, the Palawan POWs’ senior officer, who was from Janesville, Wisconsin with the 192nd Tank Battalion. Only eleven men escaped the “Palawan Massacre” to be rescued by guerrillas. The story of their ordeal persuaded General Douglas MacArthur that the rumored order for the retreating Japanese to “kill all” prisoners was being implemented, thus his rush to liberate the Philippines.
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force units based there were:
- 2nd Air Division
- 71st Sentai Squadron
These included:
- Headquarters, XIII Fighter Command
- 42d Bombardment Group
- 347th Fighter Group
- 419th Night Fighter Squadron
- 550th Night Fighter Squadron
Post war
During the 1950s, President Ramon Magsaysay opened Puerto Princesa to air travel. The first scheduled route, operated by Philippine Airlines, was from Puerto Princesa to San Jose, Mindoro and vice versa. By late 90s, Puerto Princesa Airport welcomed its first wide-body aircraft service with Airbus A300 dubbed as the "Love Bus" operated by Philippine Airlines.
Fate of old terminal
The old terminal apron is utilized as an additional parking space for general aviation aircraft as well as large aircraft such as the Airbus A320. As of February 28, 2020, the old terminal is under renovation. It is not clear yet if what the renovation is for.The Philippine Airlines ticketing office was relocated at the main city proper at Getan Square building.
Terminal and structures
New passenger terminal complex
To meet the growing air transportation demands of Puerto Princesa and the Province of Palawan, the Department of Transportation awarded the $82.9-million contract to the Kumho Industrial Co. Ltd. GS Engineering & Construction Joint Venture, a South Korean company for the construction of new passenger terminal and cargo terminal building, a new apron with 6 aircraft bays, connecting taxiways, new state-of-the-art air navigation system, and other support facilities in compliance with the international civil aviation standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The project was completed 30 months from the groundbreaking rites.The new passenger terminal complex has an upgraded handling capacity of 2 million passengers annually, with an estimated peak passenger flow of 690 passengers per hour. It was officially inaugurated last 3 May 2017 and opened for commercial operations on the next day, May 4, 2017.
Runway
The airport consists of a single 2,600 meter x 45 m. wide runway running at a direction 09°/27°. The airport shares its single runway with Antonio Bautista Air Base. The runway is equipped with an Instrument Landing System, runway lights, and approach landing lights making the airport capable of nighttime operations as well as low visibility landings.Future Expansion
Phase 2 of the airport development includes expansion of the passenger terminal building, construction of a parallel taxiway, additional apron area and a runway extension.Statistics
Data from Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.Passenger movements
| Year | Domestic | International | Total | Change |
| 2003 | 195,975 | 0 | 195,975 | |
| 2004 | 271,769 | 161 | 271,930 | 38.76% |
| 2005 | 267,778 | 0 | 267,778 | 1.53% |
| 2006 | 284,110 | 0 | 284,110 | 6.10% |
| 2007 | 392,039 | 0 | 392,039 | 37.99% |
| 2008 | 444,878 | 0 | 444,878 | 13.48% |
| 2009 | 584,186 | 0 | 584,186 | 31.31% |
| 2010 | 807,916 | 0 | 807,916 | 38.30% |
| 2011 | 988,972 | 0 | 988,972 | 22.41% |
| 2012 | 1,322,925 | 0 | 1,322,925 | 33.77% |
| 2013 | 1,357,531 | 12,894 | 1,370,425 | 3.59% |
| 2014 | 1,371,651 | 6,929 | 1,378,580 | 0.60% |
| 2015 | 1,564,914 | 26,804 | 1,591,718 | 15.46% |
| 2016 | 1,612,640 | 31,363 | 1,644,003 | 3.28% |
| 2017 | 1,767,157 | 22,958 | 1,790,115 | 8.89% |
| 2018 | 2,046,628 | 99,722 | 2,146,350 | 19.90% |
Aircraft movements
| Year | Domestic | International | Total | Change |
| 2003 | 3,346 | 0 | 3,346 | |
| 2004 | 4,390 | 12 | 4,402 | 31.56% |
| 2005 | 3,916 | 0 | 3,916 | 11.04% |
| 2006 | 3,780 | 0 | 3,780 | 3.47% |
| 2007 | 4,538 | 0 | 4,538 | 20.05% |
| 2008 | 4,990 | 0 | 4,990 | 9.96% |
| 2009 | 4,236 | 0 | 4,236 | 15.11% |
| 2010 | 3,760 | 0 | 3,760 | 11.24% |
| 2011 | 4,248 | 0 | 4,248 | 12.98% |
| 2012 | 12,046 | 0 | 12,046 | 183.57% |
| 2013 | 10,512 | 2,684 | 13,196 | 9.55% |
| 2014 | 13,130 | 224 | 13,354 | 1.20% |
| 2015 | 14,222 | 184 | 14,406 | 7.88% |
| 2016 | 13,813 | 191 | 14,004 | 2.79% |
| 2017 | 15,682 | 155 | 15,837 | 13.09% |
| 2018 | 19,404 | 683 | 20,087 | 26.84% |
Cargo movements
An em dash is used when data from CAAP is not available.| Year | Domestic | International | Total | Change |
| 2003 | 5,001,051 | 0 | 5,001,051 | |
| 2004 | 4,500,599 | — | 4,500,599 | 10.01% |
| 2005 | 4,744,915 | 0 | 4,744,915 | 5.43% |
| 2006 | 3,912,209 | 0 | 3,912,209 | 17.55% |
| 2007 | 4,480,615 | 0 | 4,480,615 | 14.53% |
| 2008 | 4,580,557 | 0 | 4,580,557 | 2.23% |
| 2009 | 5,439,799 | 0 | 5,439,799 | 18.76% |
| 2010 | 8,972,631 | 0 | 8,972,631 | 64.94% |
| 2011 | 9,294,017 | 0 | 9,294,017 | 3.58% |
| 2012 | 10,938,901 | 0 | 10,938,901 | 17.70% |
| 2013 | 12,699,299 | — | 12,699,299 | 16.09% |
| 2014 | 15,038,825 | — | 15,038,825 | 18.42% |
| 2015 | 14,278,467 | 133,614 | 14,412,081 | 4.17% |
| 2016 | 17,136,857 | 116,870 | 17,253,727 | 19.72% |
| 2017 | 16,173,990 | 833,190 | 17,007,180 | 1.43% |
| 2018 | 16,955,042 | 13,029 | 16,968,071 | 0.23% |
Airlines and destinations
Accidents and incidents
- On January 11, 2011, a Cebu Pacific Airbus A319 registered as RP-C3190 with 129 passengers and 6 crews on board swerved off the runway upon landing after touchdown. Though the pilot maneuvered the aircraft back to the runway, the aircraft sustained substantial damage on its nose and main landing gear with other damages on the left and right engine fan blades, aircraft underbelly and underwings. No one on board was injured.
- On April 11, 2012, A departing Cebu Pacific Airbus A320 clipped the wingtip of a Zest Airways Airbus A320 while sitting on the apron around 6:30 p.m. The incident severed Zest Airways' navigation lights forcing the company to cancel their return flight to Manila. By the time of the incident, only Philippine Airlines offers push back vehicle to its aircraft so other airlines will have to do a 180 degree turn to taxi out of the apron. No one is injured during the incident.
Gallery