Zamboanga International Airport

Zamboanga International Airport,Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Zamboanga; Chavacano and Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Zamboanga, (IATA: ZAM, ICAO: RPMZ) is the main airport serving Zamboanga City in the Philippines. The airport is Mindanao's third-busiest airport after Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City and Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City. It is the gateway to one of Southeast Asia's fastest growing business and culture hubs and to the entire western Mindanao area. The airport covers a total land area of 270 hectares.

The airport is officially classified as an international airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the same agency that runs not only Zamboanga International Airport, but all other airports in the Philippines except the major international airports.

History

The airport started off as Moret Field, an American airfield that was constructed from a rather poor Japanese airfield just north of Zamboanga. Construction started just after American forces landed at the present location, last March 15, 1945. And there by inside by the Philippine Commonwealth troops in Zamboanga. It was improved by a U.S. Army airfield construction unit using considerable Filipino labor. When completed, the single runway was about 4,500 feet long aligned SW to NE. There were two adjacent taxiways along both sides of the runway with revertment areas. At the peak of operations in 1945, there were about 300 aircraft flying from the airfield. The vast majority were United States Marine Corps aircraft from Marine Aircraft Group 24 which were supporting U.S. Army infantry operations on Mindanao but also ranging down the Sulu area as far as Borneo.

Subsequent improvements increased its capacity to hold flights. The airport used to service nearby international destinations in the past, such as Labuan and Sandakan in Malaysia via Philippine Airlines; these international services were eventually cut. The Philippine Airlines, in particular, cut its services during the Asian financial crisis, when it was struggling to keep afloat.

Future plans

Currently, the proposed plan of transferring the present airport in Barangay Sta Maria and Barangay San Roque has finally pushed through with the proposed of the new Zamboanga International Airport somewhere in Barangay Mercedes, Barangay Taluksangay and Barangay Talabaan which is now ongoing as reported.

The national government through the DOTC, alloted 15 million pesos for the feasibility study of the project. In November 2008, Asian Development Bank (ADB) consultants as well as engineers from Davao City conducted occular inspection at the new airport site.

The development of the new airport for Zamboanga will involve approximately 175 hectares of land acquisition, including the areas for PALS and SALS, glide slope, future runway extension and parallel taxiway and 30-meter road right of way for the access road and diversion of existing barangay road.

The project components will include:

Construction of New Terminal that will accommodate more passengers.

Construction of 6 Jet bridges on the proposed New Terminal.

Construction of new 3,440 metre long runway, to accommodate more and bigger planes.

Construction of new taxiways and aprons.

Construction of a new Modern Control Tower.

Once it is completed, the new international airport will have the following facilities:

6 Jet Bridges.

3,440 meter runway.

Can accommodate up to 8 Million passengers per year.

December 21, 2007 - The Philippine Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has allotted some P257 million (US$5.2 million) for the improvement of Zamboanga Airport in Zamboanga City.

Future and Planned airlines and destinations

Air Asia

The AirAsia Bhd. seek more flights in the Philippines. Mr. Fernandes said he wants to open a new link destinations in the Philippines by this year 2009, particularly in Cebu, Davao, Manila and Zamboanga using Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia.

South East Asian Airlines

Seair has a planned to open a new route destination from Zamboanga to Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) as one of their expansion planned since last year 2008.

Zest Airways

Zest Airways (formerly Asian Spirit) discontinued on its service from Zamboanga to Cebu and Sandakan, Malaysia. There's no complete schedule yet for the resuming of their service.

Runways

Aerial view of the Apron.

Zamboanga International Airport has one 2,610-meter primary runway. The dimensions of the runway are 2,610 meters in length by 45 meters in width, is designated as Runway 09/27 and is capable of supporting the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320. The airport also has taxiways that measure 25 meters in width. While the runway can support aircraft as big as the Boeing 747, the airport lacks the necessary equipment to facilitate the landing of large aircraft. There are plans to extend the runway to 3,000 meters, making it capable of receiving even bigger aircraft.

The airport, like all other international airports in the Philippines, has runway lights, which make it possible to support night landings. This makes 24-hour airport operations possible.

The runway is presently being shared between the airport and the Edwin Andrews Air Base (EAAB). Military jets and aircraft land and depart on this runway. At the end of Runway 09 is the street to Barangay Sta. Maria, and a park. This can be a perfect spot to take pictures for departing and landing aircraft. At the end of the Runway 27 is San Roque St., which hosts a large public cemetery. It is also a good spot for plane spotting. Each end of the runway has aprons capable of supporting two Boeing 737s. One of the aprons in the end of Runway 9 is being used by the Philippine Air Force. OV-10s, C-130s, and other Air Force and military aircraft are parked there. While the apron at the end of Runway 27 is available, but need repairs.