San Vicente Airport ( fil, Paliparan ng San Vicente) is an airport in San Vicente,

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...

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 ...

. The airport was opened for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

flights on 22 June 2017, and opened for commercial flights by the end of 2017. The airport was built to boost tourism in the town and as an alternative to much smaller

El Nido Airport El Nido Airport ( hil, Hulugpaan sang El Nido; fil, Paliparan ng El Nido) , also known as Lio Airport, is an airport serving the general area of El Nido, located in the province of Palawan in the Philippines. It is located in the barangay of V ...

. Travel to this part of northwest

usually takes three hours by land from the provincial capital,

Puerto Princesa Puerto Princesa, officially the City of Puerto Princesa (Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; fil, Lungsod ng Puerto Princesa), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Mimaropa region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

, located 186 kilometers away. With the airport in operation, travel between Puerto Princesa and San Vicente has been reduced to less than 30 minutes.

History

President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...

announced in 2006 that an airport would be built in

San Vicente, Palawan San Vicente, officially the Municipality of San Vicente ( tgl, Bayan ng San Vicente), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 33,507 people. It is located in the ...

to "jump-start tourism development" in the town. Airport construction began in 2009. A 62.7-million airport development project was initiated in 2012; this project was to include the construction of a passenger terminal, a fire station building and an elevated 2,500-gallon water tank; and runway extension with slope protection and hill obstruction removal. and was supposed to be completed by March 2014 but delayed by an issue with a nearby private property owner. By February 2017, the airport is already accommodating chartered and private flights. The removal of a hill obstructing the west end of the runway was completed by March 2017 using funds from the Department of Tourism's

Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority The Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), formerly the Philippine Tourism Authority ( fil, Pangasiwaang Pilipino sa Turismo), is an agency of the Philippine national government under the Department of Tourism responsibl ...

amounting to 236 million. The completion of San Vicente Airport was followed by potential investors looking to develop the designated "San Vicente Tourism Economic Zone". The local government at that time already had plans to develop its white beach along Imuruan Bay as the "next

Boracay Boracay (; often locally shortened to Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located off the northwest coast of Panay. It has a total land area of , under the jurisdiction of three barangays in Malay, Akla ...

". The airport was officially opened for general aviation flights at 8:00 am PST on 22 June 2017. On 1 August 2017, while the airport was still in its final stages of construction,

Air Juan Air Juan Aviation, Inc., operating as Air Juan, (IATA Code: AO) is a registered scheduled and non-scheduled domestic airline operating in the Philippines with bases in Manila, Puerto Princesa and Cebu City, Cebu. It is the first commercial seaplan ...

operated a charter flight carrying passengers from

Puerto Princesa International Airport Puerto Princesa International Airport ( fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Puerto Princesa; ) 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 ...

. It was inaugurated on May 10, 2018, by officials from the Department of Transportation,

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 ...

, and the provincial government of Palawan. On October 28, 2018, San Vicente welcomed its first scheduled flight from

Clark International Airport Clark International Airport ( pam, Pangyatung Sulapawan ning Clark; fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Clark; ), known as Diosdado Macapagal International Airport from 2003 to 2012, is an international airport covering portions of the cities of ...

. The flight was operated by

PAL Express Air Philippines Corporation, operating as PAL Express and formerly branded as Air Philippines and Airphil Express, is a wholly owned subsidiary airline of Philippine Airlines which is under its ownership. It is PAL's regional brand, with servic ...

using the

Bombardier Q400 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

aircraft.

Facilities

The airport features a passenger terminal, a fire station building and an elevated water tank facility. Its concrete runway measures long and wide. The terminal can accommodate 100 people. Although the current runway can handle aircraft as large as the A220, the airport can safely accommodate aircraft like

ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and ...

ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed b ...

and the

British Aerospace 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...

. A future runway extension of will enable the airport to handle larger aircraft as large as the

Airbus 320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the famil ...

. The airport's control tower, parking area, runway expansion and drainage system has been completed as of January, 2023. The Runway orientation is 04/22.

Airlines and destinations

References

{{authority control Airports in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Palawan