Iloilo International Airport is the airport serving the general area of Iloilo City, the capital city of the province of Iloilo and the regional center of the Western Visayas region in the Philippines. It opened its doors to commercial traffic on June 14, 2007 after a decade of planning and construction, replacing Mandurriao Airport in Iloilo City proper which had been in service for over seventy years.
As a result, the new airport inherited its IATA and ICAO airport codes, as well as its position as the fourth-busiest airport in the Philippines, from its predecessor. Despite being called an "international" airport, it is officially designated as a Class 1 Principal (Major Domestic) Airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the body responsible for the operations of all airports in the country. It is the first airport in both Western Visayas and the island of Panay to be built to international standards, and one of the four airports in the region planned to be an international gateway.
The airport is located 19 kilometers (12 mi) northwest of Iloilo City on a 188-hectare (460-acre) site in Barangay Duyan-Duyan, split between the municipalities of Cabatuan, where the airport proper is located, and Santa Barbara, where the airport entrance and access road are located. The airport complex consists of a single runway, various administrative and maintenance buildings, waste sorting and water treatment facilities, a power generating station, a cargo terminal and a main passenger terminal. Its location on the Tomas Confesor Highway, a major highway transversing the island, makes the airport accessible from all parts of Iloilo and Panay by road, while its proximity to the currently defunct Panay Railways network could potentially link the airport to the rest of Panay by rail.
Built in slightly over 30 months, Iloilo International Airport is one of the largest airports to be constructed in the Philippines. At its inauguration, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo remarked that the airport was the most beautiful and modern in the country and called it a symbol of both political will and economic maturity.
Structure
- Runway
Iloilo International Airport has one primary 2,500-meter (8,200 ft) runway 45 meters (148 ft) wide. The runway runs at a direction of 02°/20°, the same as Mandurriao Airport.
Unlike the runway at Mandurriao, the longer runway at Iloilo International Airport can support aircraft as large as the Airbus A330 and Boeing 787. Runway lights and an Instrument Landing System were installed, making the airport capable of supporting low-visibility and night landings under any weather condition.
Terminals
- Passenger terminal
The airport has a 13,700-square-meter (147,000 sq ft) main passenger terminal designed to accommodate around 1.2 million passengers annually. Believed to be one of the most beautifully designed airport terminals in the Philippines, its architectural style is said to be reminiscent of Hong Kong International Airport, albeit on a smaller scale. It is divided into three levels: arrivals and baggage claim on the first floor, check-in on the second floor and departures on the third floor. The pre-departure area at Iloilo International Airport has a capacity of 436 passengers. Three jet bridges protrude from the terminal above a 48,000-square-meter (520,000 sq ft) apron, enabling Iloilo International Airport to handle up to six aircraft simultaneously. When fully extended, the jet bridges stretch to a length of 35 meters (115 ft).
The terminal is equipped with six X-ray machines, as well as escalators and staircases for departing and arriving passengers' use. There are also two elevators, one for very important persons and one for disabled passengers. Two pocket gardens have been installed at the terminal, one each for both the departure and arrival halls. The building features ten modern check-in counters with LCD monitors. The terminal makes extensive use of natural lighting, designed for energy efficiency. Other amenities available to passengers include a special smoking room, a VIP lounge, a Mabuhay Lounge for Philippine Airlines business class passengers and counters for hotel and car rental bookings, as well as areas for airport stores and payphones.
- Cargo terminal
Iloilo International Airport has a 1,281-square-meter (13,790 sq ft) cargo terminal, designed to handle up to 11,500 tons of cargo annually. The three-storey building, built in an architectural style similar to that of the main terminal building, has a covered platform, bathrooms, government offices and cargo handling areas, as well as its own parking lot. Airline offices also occupy the structure, secured by means of a perimeter fence with a guard house.
Other structures
Iloilo International Airport has a modern 35-meter (115 ft) tall control tower equipped with air navigation equipment and radar systems. A briefing room for pilots is found inside the control tower. Additionally, the airport complex has a fire station equipped with three fire trucks, a maintenance building, a mechanical building and an administrative building. In front of the passenger terminal is a 415-slot parking lot for the use of passengers, employees and airport visitors.
The airport has a power back-up system and a power generating station that enables the airport to run in the event of a power outage, returning the supply of electric power to the facility within three seconds. The airport has water treatment facilities and a 6-hectare (15-acre) man-made pond used for flood control and drainage purposes as well as for the irrigation of nearby farmland. A waste treatment and sorting facility on the airport grounds converts solid waste into fertilizer for the use of surrounding farms.
Access and transportation
- Road
Iloilo International Airport is connected to Iloilo City proper via the Tomas Confesor Highway. At Bangga Dama in Santa Barbara, a bypass branches from the highway, leading to a 3-kilometer (1.9 mi) long, 30-meter (98 ft) wide access road which links the airport complex to the highway. The access road is wide enough to be able to accommodate four lanes of traffic. The estimated travel time to the airport from Iloilo City proper is around thirty minutes.
To relieve crowding on the main access road during peak hours, a 3.2-kilometer (2.0 mi) secondary access road was constructed, connecting the airport to Cabatuan proper. The 124 million-peso ($2.6 million) road is expected to improve connectivity between the airport and both northern Iloilo and southern Capiz, as well as reduce travel times from there to the airport by at least fifteen minutes. The two-lane road opened in July 2010.
- Public transportation
Although public transport routes to and from the airport are being studied, no franchises for transport services to the airport have been granted yet by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). Some transport operators, however, are showing interest in starting shuttle services to the airport from Iloilo City, while others have drawn proposals for public transport routes from Iloilo City directly to the airport. A shuttle service is currently available to the airport from Iloilo City, with pick-up and drop-off points at SM City Iloilo and Jaro Plaza.
Taxi service is available to the airport from Iloilo City proper, with the average fare from Jaro Plaza in downtown Iloilo City costing around 163 pesos ($3.90) as of 2007. However, taxi operators have filed a petition with the LTFRB to increase airport rates by 150 pesos, a move opposed by Governor Tupas as it would make taxi fares to the airport the most expensive out of any route going to an airport in the Philippines, as well as hurt the tourism industry.
Iloilo International Airport is accessible via jeepney to Santa Barbara town proper, after which travelers may take a share taxi to the airport. Travelers may also take jeepneys en route to Cabatuan, Calinog or Janiuay, all of which stop at Santa Barbara.
- Rail
A train linking Iloilo International Airport to Iloilo City proper, similar to the Airport Express in Hong Kong and similar systems in other cities, has been proposed. A study to determine the feasibility of a train service has since been commissioned by the city government. Other proposals to connect the airport to the city via rail include the revival of the currently defunct Panay Railways network which has a station in Santa Barbara town proper.
Iloilo International Airport