Sibulan Airport

History

The airport was built by the Philippine government with supervision and guidance from the United States Army Air Corps in 1938. The runway, running in a north–south direction, was completed in March 1939 and was used by civilian and military aircraft. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines as part of the Second World War, in 1942, two parallel runways running in an east–west direction were constructed. The northern runway was used as the main runway while the southern runway was a secondary (auxiliary) runway. By 1945, the airfield was liberated by the U.S. Army. The present-day runway was then extended to the current dimensions.

In 2017, the air traffic control system was upgraded, and new navigational equipment were installed, making the airport capable of handling night operations. Cebu Pacific became the first airline to operate night flights to the airport in July of that year.

On March 11, 2021, after upgrade works were made, then-President Rodrigo Duterte inaugurated the newly-expanded airport. The upgrades covered the pavement reconstruction, expansion of the terminal building from 1,152 sqm to 1,842 sqm, and expansion of CAAP administrative buildings.

Future development

Studies conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Korea International Cooperation Agency concluded that expanding the airport at its current site is not feasible. Since 2014, lawmakers have thus been proposing to transfer the airport to the town of Bacong, south of Dumaguete City. Although there were proposals to build the airport in the nearby cities of Bais and Tanjay and the municipality of Siaton, Bacong was the most preferred due to its use for constructing a northeast–southwest runway, which planes can land and take off in that direction, and its safety-oriented location ideal for future expansion. Moreover, the east–west direction of the Sibulan Airport runway as well as the prevalence of crosswinds was dangerous for planes landing and taking off.

Airlines and destinations

| Cebgo |Cebu, Iloilo | Cebu Pacific | Cebu, Manila | PAL Express | Manila | Royhle Air Way Charter Inc. Dumaguete | Charter: Dipolog, Siquijor

Accidents and incidents

• July 1, 1970: a Philippine Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship 200 with 29 people on board skidded off the runway. None of those on board were injured or damaged.
• August 14, 2018: Philippine Airlines Flight 2451, an Airbus A320-200 arriving from Manila experienced problems with its tires. Its left tire blew off as it landed on the runway. All 115 passengers plus six crew were safely brought to the passenger terminal.

Notes

Amount of cargo in the infobox shows 2021 numbers as the amount of cargo (in kgs) transported in 2022 could not be found.

References

References

1. "Aircraft, Passenger, and Cargo Movements".
2. "Dumaguete Airfield (Sibulan)".
3. Delavin, Imee Charlee C.. (July 3, 2017). "Cebu Pacific to launch Manila-Dumaguete night flights". BusinessWorld.
4. (March 11, 2021). "Pres. Duterte, Tugade inaugurate upgraded port of Dumaguete, newly-developed Dumaguete airport".
5. (12 March 2021). "Duterte, Tugade inaugurate upgraded Dumaguete seaport, airport". [[SunStar]] Dumaguete.
6. (March 11, 2021). "THE MUCH-IMPROVED AIRPORT OF DUMAGUETE!". [[Department of Transportation (Philippines).
7. Partlow, Judy Flores. (November 19, 2014). "To a new site in bacong town Solon wants to relocate airport from Dumaguete". The Freeman.
8. (March 13, 2022). "Alternate International Airport: Why Bacong? pilot-legislators explain why…". Negros Chronicle.
9. Dagooc, Ehda M.. (October 23, 2024). "CEB launches three new flights from Iloilo". [[The Philippine Star]].
10. "ASN Aircraft accident Fokker F-27 Friendship 200 PI-C504".
11. "Dumaguete airport shut down as aircraft gets stuck in runway".