Sibulan Airport (
Cebuano: ''Tugpahanan sa Sibulan'';
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
: ''Paliparan ng Sibulan''; ), also known as Dumaguete Airport or Dumaguete–Sibulan Airport, is an
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
serving the general area of the city of
Dumaguete
Dumaguete, officially the City of Dumaguete ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dumaguete; fil, Lungsod ng Dumaguete), is a 3rd income class component city and the capital of the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a p ...
, located in the province of
Negros Oriental
Negros Oriental ( ceb, Sidlakang Negros; tl, Silangang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Oriental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete. It occupies the southeaste ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. It is located north of Dumaguete on a
site in Barangay Agan-an in the nearby municipality of
Sibulan. The airport is one of two major airports serving
Negros Island
Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...
, the other being
Bacolod–Silay Airport
Bacolod–Silay Airport, also referred to as Bacolod–Silay International Airport ( hil, Hulugpaan sang Bacolod–Silay; fil, Paliparan ng Bacolod–Silay; ), is the main airport serving the general area of Metro Bacolod, in the Western Visaya ...
in
Silay
Silay, officially the City of Silay ( hil, Dakbanwa/Syudad sang Silay; ceb, Dakbayan sa Silay; fil, Lungsod ng Silay), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a pop ...
,
Negros Occidental
Negros Occidental ( hil, Nakatungdang Negros; tl, Kanlurang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region. ...
.
The airport is classified as a Class 1 principal (major domestic) airport by the
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP, ; fil, Pangasiwaan sa Abyasyong Sibil ng Pilipinas) is the civil aviation authority of the Philippines and is responsible for implementing policies on civil aviation to assure safe, econo ...
, the 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.
History
The airport was built by the Philippine government with supervision and guidance from the
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...
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
The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Japones sa Filipinas''; ja, 日本のフィリピン占領, Nihon no Firipin Senryō) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when Imperial Japan occupied the Commonwealth of the ...
as part of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, 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
Cebu Air, Inc., operating as Cebu Pacific (), is a low-cost airline of the Philippines. Founded in 1988, it is Asia's oldest low-cost airline. It offers scheduled flights to both domestic and international destinations. The airline operates fl ...
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 to , and expansion of CAAP administrative buildings.
Future development
Lawmakers have been proposing to transfer the airport in the town of
Bacong, south of Dumaguete since 2014. This was chosen over the initial plan of expanding Sibulan Airport, in which studies conducted by the
Japan International Cooperation Agency
The is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international co ...
and the
Korea International Cooperation Agency
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA, Korean: 한국국제협력단, Hanja: 韓國國際協力團) was established in 1991 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea as a governmental organization for Official Development ...
concluded that such an expansion of the current airport is not feasible. Although there were proposals to build the airport in the nearby cities of
Bais and
Tanjay
Tanjay, officially the City of Tanjay ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Tanjay; fil, Lungsod ng Tanjay), is a 4th class component city in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 82,642 people.
It be ...
and the municipality of
Siaton
Siaton ( ceb, Lungsod sa Siaton; tl, Bayan ng Siaton), officially the Municipality of Siaton, is a 1st class municipality and the southernmost settlement in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a po ...
, 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
Accidents and incidents
* On 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.
* On August 14, 2018, Philippine Airlines Flight 2451 from
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
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
References
External links
CAAP(web archive)
{{authority control
Airports in the Philippines
Buildings and structures in Dumaguete