Zamboanga International Airport

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Zamboanga International Airport Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Zamboanga

IATA: ZAM - ICAO: RPMZ
Summary
Airport type		public
Operator		Air Transportation Office
Serves		Zamboanga City
Elevation AMSL		20 ft (6 m)
Coordinates		6°55′20.71″N, 122°3′34.68″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
09/27	8,563	2,610	Concrete

Zamboanga International Airport (Filipino: Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Zamboanga) (IATA: ZAM, ICAO: RPMZ) is the main airport serving Zamboanga City in the Philippines. It is Mindanao's third-busiest airport after Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City and Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro. It is the gateway to one of Southeast Asia's fastest growing business and culture hubs. The airport is officially classified as a secondary international airport by the Air Transportation Office, the same agency that runs not only Zamboanga International Airport, but all other airports in the Philippines except the major international airports.

1 History
2 Airlines
- 2.1 Planned airlines
- 2.2 Former airlines
3 External links

[edit] History

Moret Field in 1945

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 there on March 15, 1945. 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 USMC aircraft 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. Philippine Airlines used to service international flights to and from Zamboanga to both destinations and Malaysia Airlines had flights to and from Zamboanga to Sandakan as well; these international services were eventually cut. Philippine Airlines, in particular, cut its services during the Asian financial crisis, when it was struggling to keep afloat.

On December 10, 2004, South Phoenix Airways announced their international flights to Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, but it was eventually cut off due to poor load of passengers. Today, the airport services only domestic flights, with the only international flights being seasonal flights to Sandakan operated by South East Asian Airlines (SEAIR).

The airport is expected to transfer to Barangay Mercedes, which is north of the city, replacing the old airport that is just 3 kilometers away from the city center.