Puerto Princesa International Airport

Puerto Princesa International Airport (Filipino: Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Puerto Princesa; IATA: PPS, ICAO: RPVP) 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.

Puerto Princesa International Airport

Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Puerto Princesa
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorCivil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
ServesPuerto Princesa
LocationBarangay San Miguel, Puerto Princesa, Palawan
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL22 m / 71 ft
Coordinates09°44′31″N 118°45′32″E
Map
PPS/RPVP
Location in the Philippines
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 2,601 8,560 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2018)
Passengers2,146,350
19.90%
Aircraft movements20,087
26.84%
Cargo (in kg)16,968,071
0.23%
Source: eFOI[3]

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 (today's Puerto Princesa International Airport and Antonio Bautista Air Base) 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 (September 1944 – Early 1945)
  • 71st Sentai Squadron (September 1944 – Early 1945)

After liberation of the Palawan in April 1945, a number US Army Air Forces units were stationed at the airport facility. These included:

Post war

US Army and Navy Engineers of the 1897th Engineer Aviation Battalion and the 84th Naval Construction Battalion immediately rehabilitated the facility and completed as a military airbase on March 18, 1945. The Army and Navy engineers further expand the airfield, strengthening the runway by laying steel Marston Mats and concrete, adding air control facilities and tanks to store oil and aviation fuel.

During the 1950s, President Ramon Magsaysay opened Puerto Princesa to air travel. The first scheduled route, operated by Philippine Airlines (Philippine Air Lines), 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 (DOTr) awarded the $82.9-million (P2.616 billion) contract to the Kumho Industrial Co. Ltd. GS Engineering & Construction Joint Venture (Kumho-GS), a South Korean company for the construction of new passenger terminal and cargo terminal building, a new apron with 6 aircraft bays (4 for narrow body and 2 for wide body aircraft as large as the Airbus A330, Airbus A350 and Boeing 787), 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 (ICAO). The project was completed 30 months (approximately two years) 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.[4]

Runway

The airport consists of a single 2,600 meter (8,530 ft.) x 45 m. (approx. 148 ft.) 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.

Airport lounges

The airport consists of two major airport lounges.

  • Mabuhay Lounge by Philippine Airlines[5]
  • PAGSS Lounge[6]

Future Expansion

Phase 2 of the airport development (Approx. at 10th year) includes expansion of the passenger terminal building, construction of a parallel taxiway, additional apron area and a runway extension.[7]

Statistics

Data from Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).[8][3]

Passenger movements

YearDomesticInternationalTotalChange
2003 195,9750195,975
2004 271,769161271,930 38.76%
2005 267,7780267,778 1.53%
2006 284,1100284,110 6.10%
2007 392,0390392,039 37.99%
2008 444,8780444,878 13.48%
2009 584,1860584,186 31.31%
2010 807,9160807,916 38.30%
2011 988,9720988,972 22.41%
2012 1,322,92501,322,925 33.77%
2013 1,357,53112,8941,370,425 3.59%
2014 1,371,6516,9291,378,580 0.60%
2015 1,564,91426,8041,591,718 15.46%
2016 1,612,64031,3631,644,003 3.28%
2017 1,767,15722,9581,790,115 8.89%
2018 2,046,62899,7222,146,350 19.90%

Aircraft movements

YearDomesticInternationalTotalChange
2003 3,34603,346
2004 4,390124,402 31.56%
2005 3,91603,916 11.04%
2006 3,78003,780 3.47%
2007 4,53804,538 20.05%
2008 4,99004,990 9.96%
2009 4,23604,236 15.11%
2010 3,76003,760 11.24%
2011 4,24804,248 12.98%
2012 12,046012,046 183.57%
2013 10,5122,68413,196 9.55%
2014 13,13022413,354 1.20%
2015 14,22218414,406 7.88%
2016 13,81319114,004 2.79%
2017 15,68215515,837 13.09%
2018 19,40468320,087 26.84%

Cargo movements

An em dash (—) is used when data from CAAP is not available.

YearDomestic (in kg)International (in kg)Total (in kg)Change
2003 5,001,05105,001,051
2004 4,500,5994,500,599 10.01%
2005 4,744,91504,744,915 5.43%
2006 3,912,20903,912,209 17.55%
2007 4,480,61504,480,615 14.53%
2008 4,580,55704,580,557 2.23%
2009 5,439,79905,439,799 18.76%
2010 8,972,63108,972,631 64.94%
2011 9,294,01709,294,017 3.58%
2012 10,938,901010,938,901 17.70%
2013 12,699,29912,699,299 16.09%
2014 15,038,82515,038,825 18.42%
2015 14,278,467133,61414,412,081 4.17%
2016 17,136,857116,87017,253,727 19.72%
2017 16,173,990833,19017,007,180 1.43%
2018 16,955,04213,02916,968,071 0.23%

Airlines and destinations

Due to the cancellation of flights following the COVID-19 pandemic, this list is no longer current and is subject to change without prior notice.[9][10][11]

AirlinesDestinations
Air Juan Busuanga, Cuyo, San Vicente, Sipalay, Taytay
AirSWIFT Busuanga, El Nido
Cebu Pacific Cebu, Clark, Hong Kong, Iloilo, Manila
Eastar Jet Seoul–Incheon
Philippine Airlines Manila
Philippine Airlines
operated by PAL Express
Cebu, Clark, Manila
Philippines AirAsia Cebu, Clark, Manila
Royal Air Philippines Cebu,[12] Clark
Tigerair Taiwan Taipei–Taoyuan[13][14]

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.[15]
  • 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.

See also

References

  1. "Air Juan Philippine Flight Destinations". Air Juan Aviation, Inc. Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  2. "Philippines AirAsia (PAA) to make Palawan 4th Hub - The Exciting Centennial of Philippine Aviation". Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  3. "eFOI - Electronic Freedom of Information - Request". eFOI - Electronic Freedom of Information. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  4. "Puerto Princesa International Airport Terminal opens on May 4 - Palawan News". Palawan News. Archived from the original on 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  5. "Domestic Lounge". www.philippineairlines.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  6. "PAGSS Lounge PPS Airport Lounges Puerto Princesa International". www.prioritypass.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  7. https://ppp.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Puerto-Princesa-Airport-Project-Brief.pdf
  8. 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.
  9. "Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)". www.philippineairlines.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  10. "Travel Rules and Requirements". www.philippineairlines.com. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  11. consultant, <img src='https://www thepoortraveler net/wp-content/uploads/gravatar/yosh jpg' class='photo' width='250' alt='Yoshke Dimen' /> Yoshke DimenStoryteller at Yoshke comYoshke is a part-time digital marketing; Blogger, Part-Time Travel; media, full-time dreamer He has three passions in life: social; travel; AWARDS, --- wait for it--- world peace Yoshke has won 3 PHILIPPINE BLOG; Yoshke.com, received 9 nominations Learn more about his personal journeys at (2020-06-15). "List of REQUIREMENTS for Essential Travel: Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, AirAsia". The Poor Traveler Itinerary Blog. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  12. "Royal Air Philippines launches Cebu service from late-May 2019". Routesonline.
  13. https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/17/20/dotr-intl-flights-to-and-from-luzon-suspended-by-march-20
  14. "AVIATION: Tigerair to launch direct flights to Palawan Island - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com.
  15. "Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board Aircraft Accident Report" (PDF). CAAP. Retrieved 2017-12-30.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Air Force website https://www.af.mil.

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