Sibulan Airport

Sibulan Airport (Cebuano: Tugpahanan sa Sibulan, Filipino: Paliparan ng Sibulan; IATA: DGT, ICAO: RPVD), also known as Dumaguete Airport or Dumaguete–Sibulan Airport, is an airport serving the general area of the city of Dumaguete, located in the province of Negros Oriental in the Philippines. It is located 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) north of Dumaguete on a 63-hectare (160-acre)[2] site in Barangay Agan-an in the nearby municipality of Sibulan. The airport is one of two major airports serving Negros Island, the other being Bacolod–Silay Airport in Silay, Negros Occidental.

Sibulan Airport

Tugpahanan sa Sibulan
Paliparan ng Sibulan
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorCivil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
ServesDumaguete
LocationSibulan, Negros Oriental, Philippines
Elevation AMSL5 m / 15 ft
Coordinates09°20′03″N 123°18′04″E
Map
DGT/RPVD is located in Philippines
DGT/RPVD
DGT/RPVD
Location in the Philippines
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27[lower-alpha 1] 1,845 6,053 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers554,261 (2022)
Aircraft movements4,844
Cargo (in kgs)2,897,317
Source: CAAP[1]

The airport is classified as a Class 1 principal (major domestic) airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, 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 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.[3]

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.[4]

On March 11, 2021, after upgrade works were made, then-President Rodrigo Duterte inaugurated the newly-expanded airport.[5] The upgrades covered the pavement reconstruction, expansion of the terminal building from 1,152 square meters (12,400 sq ft) to 1,842-square-meter (19,830 sq ft), and expansion of CAAP administrative buildings.[6][7]

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 and the Korea International Cooperation Agency concluded that such an expansion of the current airport is not feasible.[8] 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.[2]

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Cebgo Cebu
Cebu Pacific Manila
PAL Express Manila
Royhle Air Way Charter: Dipolog, Siquijor, Tagbilaran[9]

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.[10]
  • On August 14, 2018, Philippine Airlines Flight 2451 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.[11]

Notes

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

  1. Runway 09 is 1,435 meters (4,708 ft) long with a displaced threshold of 410 meters (1,350 ft).

References
  1. "Aircraft, Passenger, and Cargo Movements". Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  2. "ALTERNATE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Why Bacong? pilot-legislators explain why…". Negros Chronicle. March 13, 2022.
  3. "Dumaguete Airfield (Sibulan)". Pacific Wrecks. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  4. Delavin, Imee Charlee C. (July 3, 2017). "Cebu Pacific to launch Manila-Dumaguete night flights". BusinessWorld. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  5. "Pres. Duterte, Tugade inaugurate upgraded port of Dumaguete, newly-developed Dumaguete airport". Philippine Information Agency. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  6. "Duterte, Tugade inaugurate upgraded Dumaguete seaport, airport". SunStar Dumaguete. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  7. "THE MUCH-IMPROVED AIRPORT OF DUMAGUETE!". Department of Transportation. March 11, 2021.
  8. Partlow, Judy Flores (November 19, 2014). "To a new site in bacong town Solon wants to relocate airport from Dumaguete". The Freeman. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  9. "Dumaguete City Philippines". Royhle Air Way Charter.
  10. "ASN Aircraft accident Fokker F-27 Friendship 200 PI-C504". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  11. "Dumaguete airport shut down as aircraft gets stuck in runway". Philippine News Agency.
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