Laoag International Airport

"Gabu Airport" redirects here. For the airport in Gabú Region of Guinea-Bissau, see Nova Lamego Airport.

Laoag International Airport (IATA: LAO, ICAO: RPLI) is an airport serving the general area of Laoag, the capital city of the province of Ilocos Norte in the Philippines. It is the only airport in Ilocos Norte and is the northernmost international airport in the Philippines.

Laoag International Airport Sangalubongan a Pagpatayaban ti Laoag Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Laoag
The airport's terminal exterior
IATA: LAO ICAO: RPLI WMO: 98223
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
Serves	Laoag
Location	Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines
Time zone	PHT (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL	8 m / 25 ft
Coordinates	18°10′41″N 120°31′55″E
Map
LAO/RPLI LAO/RPLI
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 01/19 2,784 9,134 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Passengers 78,229 1,201.65% Aircraft movements 1,106 69.43% Cargo (in kg) 2,035,551 949.16%
Source: CAAP

It has one 2,784-meter runway and is designated as a secondary/alternate international airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a 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

Early history

The land on which the airport sits today is located near the Ilocos Norte sand dunes at the mouth of the Padsan River. During the American colonial period, a military airfield located in the northern part of Luzon became imperative. Laoag, the most populated settlement at the time was chosen as the site. It became known as Gabu Airfield.

World War II

During the initial invasion of the Japanese in the Philippines in December 1941, Gabu Airfield was captured and subsequently used. During the Luzon campaign to retake the islands from the Japanese, Major Simeon Valdez led a raid on the airfield, burning the headquarters and setting fire to a fuel dump. Similar attacks follow in the succeeding days until its abandonment on February 15, 1945 due to Commonwealth military and guerrilla raids. It was then recaptured on February 27, 1945.

By April 1945 the airfield was again operational hosting fighter and transport aircraft. Colonel Arvid E. Olson, Jr. became the Base Commander and assumed all its administrative functions. The airfield became a staging area for flights and air missions against Japanese forces in Northern Luzon by April and became an important refueling point for planes en route to Okinawa and an even more important emergency and rescue base for planes returning from Formosa and China.

Contemporary history

After the war, the airfield was converted into a civilian airport. It mostly catered to domestic flights from Manila and international flights from nearby countries of China, Hong Kong and Singapore and as far as Honolulu, Hawaii.

In 2003, the airport was an epicenter of concern for authorities during the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak during which it continued to receive flights from China and Singapore, two of the most affected countries.

The airport became one of the stops of the Breitling DC-3 World Tour held in 2017. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-3 with the registration number HB-IRJ landed for refueling in April as part of a round-the-world flight to celebrate the plane's 77th birthday.

The airport was also where 4 FA-50 light fighter aircraft were stored during the testing of Israeli radars on Paredes Air Station in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte. There are plans to store FA-50s on the airport as a warning squadron for any disaster/threat to the northern part of the Philippines.

The terminal building's ceiling and floor were damaged by the onslaught of Typhoon Doksuri (Egay) in Northern Luzon in July 2023.

Structure

Runway

The airport currently has a single 2,784-meter (9,134 ft) with 45 meters (148 ft) of width. The runway runs at a direction of 01°/19°. It is equipped with runway lights but not an instrument landing system, limiting operations during severe weather. Since March 2022, the airport can accommodate wide-body aircraft such as the Airbus A330.

Terminal

A single terminal building serves both passenger and cargo traffic. As an international airport, it houses immigration desks for screening of arriving international passengers. It is also equipped with a carousel baggage at the reclaim area for passengers with checked-in items.

The terminal previously had a combined capacity of 140 international and domestic passengers. It has since been expanded in 2021 to accommodate 200 international and 240 domestic passengers.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Cebu Pacific	Manila
PAL Express	Manila
Sky Pasada	Basco

Statistics

Data from Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). An em dash (—) is used if data from CAAP is not available.

Year	Passenger movements				Aircraft movements				Cargo movements (in kg)
	Domestic	International	Total	% change	Domestic	International	Total	% change	Domestic	International	Total	% change
2002	35,766	149,995	185,761		2,384	1,796	4,180		487,250	1,671,107	2,158,357
2003	32,793	66,894	99,687	46.34	3,378	1,382	4,760	13.88	546,811	2,482,738	3,029,549	40.36
2004	43,435	91,434	134,869	35.29	2,444	1,446	3,890	18.28	906,908	1,938,637	2,845,545	6.07
2005	52,131	67,331	119,462	11.42	1,658	1,660	3,318	14.70	1,370,561	956,243	2,326,804	18.23
2006	55,677	73,180	128,857	7.86	1,344	1,814	3,158	4.82	1,012,878	1,787,887	2,800,765	20.37
2007	96,444	46,162	142,606	10.67	1,844	542	2,386	24.45	1,967,914	893,085	2,860,999	2.15
2008	117,646	38,673	156,319	9.62	2,724	394	3,118	30.68	2,011,807	456,985	2,468,792	13.71
2009	125,087	10,386	135,473	13.34	3,002	188	3,190	2.31	2,244,994	108,338	2,353,332	4.68
2010	147,883	29,456	177,339	30.90	1,231	212	1,443	54.76	2,519,297	42,930	2,562,227	8.88
2011	144,073	2,606	146,679	17.29	953	152	1,105	23.42	18,565,134	189	18,565,323	624.58
2012	180,097	7,951	188,048	28.20	2,912	68	2,980	169.68	2,698,932	2,380	2,701,312	85.45
2013	232,034	10,982	243,016	29.23	2,756	116	2,872	3.62	2,623,496	75,130	2,698,626	0.10
2014	193,237	3,200	196,437	19.17	3,172	32	3,204	11.56	2,528,669	23,470	2,552,139	5.43
2015	175,529	29,021	204,550	4.13	3,292	1,182	4,474	39.64	2,844,889	70,196	2,915,085	14.22
2016	188,664	15,492	204,156	0.19	3,456	1,260	4,716	5.41	3,143,780	121,424	3,265,204	12.01
2017	146,960	14,059	161,019	21.13	3,483	1,224	4,707	0.19	2,945,989	118,143	3,064,132	6.16
2018	150,214	1,594	151,808	5.72	3,371	1,515	4,886	3.80	3,277,172	11,544	3,288,716	7.33
2019	143,054	–	143,054	5.77	9,579	1,250	10,829	121.63	3,103,939	–	3,103,939	5.62
2020	35,780	–	35,780	74.99	2,877	986	3,863	64.33	849,802	–	849,802	72.62
2021	6,010	297	6,307	82.37	3,618	–	3,618	6.34	156,904	37,113	194,017	77.17
2022	78,229	–	78,229	1,201.65	1,106	–	1,106	69.43	2,035,551	–	2,035,551	949.16

Accidents and incidents

• On June 28, 2023, VietJet Air Flight 975 made a diversionary landing on the airport following a technical fault; the Airbus A321 aircraft departed from Incheon International Airport in South Korea en route to Phu Quoc, Vietnam. None of the passengers or crew members were hurt.

See also

• Louis Edward Curdes
• 3d Fighter Squadron (Commando), an American air unit based in Laoag during World War II
• 353d Special Operations Group, formerly known as 3d Air Commando Group, another air unit based in Laoag during World War II

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

• Laoag International Airport
• Current weather for RPLI at NOAA/NWS
• Airport information for LAO / RPLI at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
• Accident history for LAO / RPLI at Aviation Safety Network
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