Sanga-Sanga Airport (

Sinama The Sama language, ''Sinama'' (''Sama'' + the infix ''-in-''; also known as Bahasa Bajau), is the language of Sama-Bajau people of the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines; Sabah, Malaysia and parts of Indonesia. The Sama are one of the most widel ...

: ''Lapagan Sanga-Sanga'';

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 Sanga-Sanga'') , also known as Tawi-Tawi Airport, is the

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 surface ...

serving the general area of

Bongao Bongao, officially the Municipality of Bongao, is a 2nd class municipality of the Philippines, municipality and capital of the Philippine Province, province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 116,118 ...

, the capital of the province of

Tawi-Tawi Tawi-Tawi, officially the Province of Tawi-Tawi ( tl, Lalawigan ng Tawi-Tawi; Tausug: ''Wilaya' sin Tawi-Tawi''; Sinama: ''Jawi Jawi/Jauih Jauih''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim M ...

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 ...

. The airport is classified as a Class 2 principal (minor 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 ...

(CAAP), a body of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) that is responsible for the operations of not only the airport but also of all other airports in the Philippines except the major international airports. It is not an international airport, contrary to its classification by the Tawi-Tawi provincial government. It is located in Sanga-Sanga Island. The airport was formerly referred by the

International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

(IATA) with the code SGS until the end of 2011, when its IATA code was finally changed to TWT. In 2005, the runway was extended to 1,860 meters through partnerships between the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC, today the DOTr), the CAAP, the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

(USAID), the regional government of the

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ( tl, Rehiyong Awtonomo ng Muslim Mindanao; ar, الحكم الذاتي الاقليمي لمسلمي مندناو ''Al-ḥukm adh-dhātī al-'iqlīmī li-muslimī Mindanāu''; abbreviated as ARMM) was ...

and the Tawi-Tawi provincial government. In addition, the runway has been widened to 30 meters. Along with the expansion of

Jolo Airport Jolo Airport ( tsg, Landing sin Tiyanggi; ) is the airport serving the general area of Jolo, located in the province of Sulu, Philippines. It is the only airport in the province of Sulu. The airport is classified as a Class 2 principal (minor do ...

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sulu), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamor ...

, the expansion of the runway was completed in August 2009. The new runway was officially inaugurated on August 17, 2009, by US ambassador

Kristie Kenney Kristie Anne Kenney is a former senior U.S. diplomat who served as the 32nd Counselor of the United States Department of State from 2016 to 2017. She is a recipient of the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award and held the nation's h ...

and local officials in Tawi-Tawi. In 2015, the DOTC allotted Php248 million to jumpstart the renovation of the Sanga-Sanga Airport and additional Php10 million for the fencing requirement expenses of Cagayan de Sulu Airport in the municipality of

Mapun Mapun, officially the Municipality of Mapun, is a 4th class municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 30,038 people. It is formerly known as Cagayan de Sulu until 1984, then as ...

, Tawi-Tawi. The DOTC also scheduled to release another Php577 million by January 2016 to finance the further improvement and development of the Sanga-Sanga Airport.

Airlines and destinations

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 ...

operates daily flights to Tawi-Tawi from Zamboanga and vice versa, utilizing the

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

aircraft.

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 ...

also operates 3x weekly flights on the same route sector, also deploying the

aircraft.

References

External links

Airports in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Tawi-Tawi Transportation in Mindanao Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Philippines {{Philippines-airport-stub

Airlines and destinations

See also

References

External links