Laoag International Airport

Laoag International Airport
Sangalubongan a Pagpatayaban ti Laoag
Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Laoag
Exterior of Laoag International Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
Serves Laoag
Location Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines
Time zone PHT (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL 8 m / 25 ft
Coordinates 18°10′41″N 120°31′55″E / 18.17806°N 120.53194°E / 18.17806; 120.53194Coordinates: 18°10′41″N 120°31′55″E / 18.17806°N 120.53194°E / 18.17806; 120.53194
Map
LAO/RPLI
Location in the Philippines
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
01/19 2,780 9,120 Concrete
Statistics (2017)
Passengers 4,234,667
Aircraft movements 38,493
Cargo (in kg) 57,753,999
Source: Statistics from eFOI[1]

Laoag International Airport (Ilokano: Sangalubongan a Pagpatayaban ti Laoag, Filipino: Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Laoag) (IATA: LAO, ICAO: RPLI) is the main airport serving the general area of Laoag, the capital city of the province of Ilocos Norte in the Philippines. It is the only airport in Ilocos Norte and is the northernmost international airport in the Philippines by geographical location. The airport is a popular charter destination for tourists from China.

It has one 2,420-meter runway[2] and is designated as a secondary/alternate international airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a body of the Department of Transportation that is responsible for the operations of not only this airport but also of all other airports in the Philippines except the major international airports.[3]

History

The airport was constructed by Americans before World War II as Gabu Airfield. The Japanese occupied the base on December 1941 and subsequently used it. During the Luzon campaign to retake the islands from the Japanese, Major Simeon Valdez led a raid on the airfield, burning the headquarters and setting fire to a fuel dump. Similar attacks follow in the succeeding days until its recapture on 15 February 1945 when it was abandoned due to Commonwealth military and guerrilla raids. By April 1945 the airfield was again operational hosting fighter and transport aircraft.[4] The airfield became a staging area for flights and air missions against Japanese forces in Northern Luzon by April and Okinawa by June 1945.[5]

After the war, the airfield was converted into a civilian airport.

The airport became one of the stops of the Breitling DC-3 World Tour held in 2017. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-3 with the registration number HB-IRJ landed for refueling in April as part of a round-the-world flight to celebrate the plane's 77th birthday.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
China Eastern Airlines Charter: Guangzhou[6]
Philippine Airlines
operated by PAL Express		 Manila
Royal Air Charter Charter: Macau

Codeshare Flights

All of these code share flights are operated by Philippine Airlines on behalf of these airlines.

Statistics

Data from Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).[1]

Passenger movements

YearDomesticInternationalTotalChange
2002 35,766149,995185,761Steady
2003 32,79366,89499,687Decrease 46.34%
2004 43,43591,434134,869Increase 35.29%
2005 52,13167,331119,462Decrease 11.42%
2006 55,67773,180128,857Increase 7.86%
2007 96,44446,162142,606Increase 10.67%
2008 117,64638,673156,319Increase 9.62%
2009 125,08710,386135,473Decrease 13.34%
2010 147,88329,456177,339Increase 30.90%
2011 144,0732,606146,679Decrease 17.29%
2012 180,0977,951188,048Increase 28.20%
2013 232,03410,982243,016Increase 29.23%
2014 193,2373,200196,437Decrease 19.17%
2015 175,52929,021204,550Increase 4.13%
2016 188,66415,492204,156Decrease 0.19%
2017 146,96014,059161,019Decrease 21.13%

Aircraft movements

YearDomesticInternationalTotalChange
2002 2,3841,7964,180Steady
2003 3,3781,3824,760Increase 13.88%
2004 2,4441,4463,890Decrease 18.28%
2005 1,6581,6603,318Decrease 14.70%
2006 1,3441,8143,158Decrease 4.82%
2007 1,8445422,386Decrease 24.45%
2008 2,7243943,118Increase 30.68%
2009 3,0021883,190Increase 2.31%
2010 1,2312121,443Decrease 54.76%
2011 9531521,105Decrease 23.42%
2012 2,912682,980Increase 169.68%
2013 2,7561162,872Decrease 3.62%
2014 3,172323,204Increase 11.56%
2015 3,2921,1824,474Increase 39.64%
2016 3,4561,2604,716Increase 5.41%
2017 3,4831,2244,707Decrease 0.19%

Cargo movements

YearDomestic (in kg)International (in kg)Total (in kg)Change
2002 487,2501,671,1072,158,357Steady
2003 546,8112,482,7383,029,549Increase 40.36%
2004 906,9081,938,6372,845,545Decrease 6.07%
2005 1,370,561956,2432,326,804Decrease 18.23%
2006 1,012,8781,787,8872,800,765Increase 20.37%
2007 1,967,914893,0852,860,999Increase 2.15%
2008 2,011,807456,9852,468,792Decrease 13.71%
2009 2,244,994108,3382,353,332Decrease 4.68%
2010 2,519,29742,9302,562,227Increase 8.88%
2011 18,565,13418918,565,323Increase 624.58%
2012 2,698,9322,3802,701,312Decrease 85.45%
2013 2,623,49675,1302,698,626Decrease 0.10%
2014 2,528,66923,4702,552,139Decrease 5.43%
2015 2,844,88970,1962,915,085Increase 14.22%
2016 3,143,780121,4243,265,204Increase 12.01%
2017 2,945,989118,1433,064,132Decrease 6.16%

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  1. 1 2 Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (23 July 2018). "Yearly Passenger, Cargo and Aircraft Movements of all airports in the Philippines 1997-2017". Republic of the Philippines - Freedom of Information Portal. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Laoag Airport - Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. National Airports - Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
  4. ↑ "Pacific Wrecks - Laoag Airfield (Gabu)". Pacific Wrecks. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "353 Special Operations Group (AFSOC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. United States Air Force. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  6. ↑ China Eastern Airlines destinations


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