Laoag International Airport

Laoag International Airport Sangalubongan a Pagpatayaban ti Laoag Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Laoag
IATA: LAO ICAO: RPLI
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
Serves	Laoag
Location	Laoag, Philippines
Elevation AMSL	8 m / 25 ft
Coordinates	18°10′41″N 120°31′55″E / 18.17806°N 120.53194°E / 18.17806; 120.53194Coordinates: 18°10′41″N 120°31′55″E / 18.17806°N 120.53194°E / 18.17806; 120.53194
Map
LAO/RPLI Location in the Philippines
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 01/19 2,784 9,134 Concrete
Statistics (2017)
Passengers 161,019 21.13% Aircraft movements 1,224 0.19% Cargo (in kg) 3,064,132 6.16%
Source: Statistics from eFOI[1]

Laoag International Airport (Ilocano: Sangalubongan a Pagpatayaban ti Laoag; Filipino: Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Laoag; IATA: LAO, ICAO: RPLI) is the main 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.

It has one 2,784-meter runway^[2] 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.^[3]

History[]

The airport was constructed by Americans before World War II as Gabu Airfield. The Japanese occupied the base on December 1941 and subsequently used it. 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 when it was abandoned 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.^[4] The airfield became a staging area for flights and air missions against Japanese forces in Northern Luzon by April and Okinawa by June 1945.^[5]

After the war, the airfield was converted into a civilian airport.

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^{[citation needed]}.

Airlines and destinations[]

Statistics[]

Data from Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).^[1]

Passenger movements[]

Year	Domestic	International	Total	Change
2002	35,766	149,995	185,761
2003	32,793	66,894	99,687	46.34%
2004	43,435	91,434	134,869	35.29%
2005	52,131	67,331	119,462	11.42%
2006	55,677	73,180	128,857	7.86%
2007	96,444	46,162	142,606	10.67%
2008	117,646	38,673	156,319	9.62%
2009	125,087	10,386	135,473	13.34%
2010	147,883	29,456	177,339	30.90%
2011	144,073	2,606	146,679	17.29%
2012	180,097	7,951	188,048	28.20%
2013	232,034	10,982	243,016	29.23%
2014	193,237	3,200	196,437	19.17%
2015	175,529	29,021	204,550	4.13%
2016	188,664	15,492	204,156	0.19%
2017	146,960	14,059	161,019	21.13%

Aircraft movements[]

Year	Domestic	International	Total	Change
2002	2,384	1,796	4,180
2003	3,378	1,382	4,760	13.88%
2004	2,444	1,446	3,890	18.28%
2005	1,658	1,660	3,318	14.70%
2006	1,344	1,814	3,158	4.82%
2007	1,844	542	2,386	24.45%
2008	2,724	394	3,118	30.68%
2009	3,002	188	3,190	2.31%
2010	1,231	212	1,443	54.76%
2011	953	152	1,105	23.42%
2012	2,912	68	2,980	169.68%
2013	2,756	116	2,872	3.62%
2014	3,172	32	3,204	11.56%
2015	3,292	1,182	4,474	39.64%
2016	3,456	1,260	4,716	5.41%
2017	3,483	1,224	4,707	0.19%

Cargo movements[]

Year	Domestic (in kg)	International (in kg)	Total (in kg)	Change
2002	487,250	1,671,107	2,158,357
2003	546,811	2,482,738	3,029,549	40.36%
2004	906,908	1,938,637	2,845,545	6.07%
2005	1,370,561	956,243	2,326,804	18.23%
2006	1,012,878	1,787,887	2,800,765	20.37%
2007	1,967,914	893,085	2,860,999	2.15%
2008	2,011,807	456,985	2,468,792	13.71%
2009	2,244,994	108,338	2,353,332	4.68%
2010	2,519,297	42,930	2,562,227	8.88%
2011	18,565,134	189	18,565,323	624.58%
2012	2,698,932	2,380	2,701,312	85.45%
2013	2,623,496	75,130	2,698,626	0.10%
2014	2,528,669	23,470	2,552,139	5.43%
2015	2,844,889	70,196	2,915,085	14.22%
2016	3,143,780	121,424	3,265,204	12.01%
2017	2,945,989	118,143	3,064,132	6.16%

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 website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

External links[]

• Laoag International Airport
• Airport information for RPLI at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
• 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
• [1]