Bacolod-Silay City International Airport
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bacolod-Silay City International Airport Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Bacolod-Lungsod ng Silay Internasyonal nga Hulugpaan sang Bacolod-Dakbanwa sang Silay |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| IATA: BCD – ICAO: RPVB | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Air Transportation Office | ||
| Serves | Bacolod City | ||
| Location | Barangay Bagtic, Silay City, Negros Occidental | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 03/21 | 2,000 | 6,562 | Concrete |
Bacolod-Silay City International Airport (Filipino: Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Bacolod-Lungsod ng Silay, Hiligaynon: Internasyonal nga Hulugpaan sang Bacolod-Dakbanwa sang Silay) (IATA: BCD, ICAO: RPVB) is an international airport serving the general area of Bacolod City, the capital city of Negros Occidental in the Philippines. This airport replaced the Bacolod City Domestic Airport located in Bacolod City proper. Bacolod-Silay City International Airport inherited its IATA and ICAO airport codes from the former.
The airport is located fifteen kilometers northeast of Bacolod City on a 181-hectare site in Barangay Bagtic, Silay City.[1] The airport is the third international airport in the Visayas and the second international airport in the Western Visayas region, after Mactan-Cebu International Airport and Iloilo International Airport, and the first international airport built on the island of Negros.
Bacolod-Silay City International Airport is designated as a secondary international airport by the Air Transportation Office, a body of the Department of Transportation and Communications 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.
Contents |
[edit] History
Planning for a new airport in Bacolod City commenced in 1997, when the Japan International Cooperation Agency initiated a study indicating the need for expansion at four Philippine airports: namely Bacolod City Domestic Airport, Mandurriao Airport in Iloilo City, Legazpi Airport in Legazpi City and Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City.[2] Of the four airports, two have been completed (Iloilo and Bacolod), and two are in planning (Legazpi and Tacloban).
In February 1999, another JICA study was commissioned, this time on the detailed plan of the new airport.[2] The study was completed by March 2000 and was funded by a 430-million yen grant. Immediately after the completion of the study, JICA hired Pacific Consultants International as advisers to the project.[2]
The project was opened for bidding on August 25, 2003, with the winning bid going to the Takenaka-Itochu Joint Venture (TIJV).[2] Physical construction on the new 4.3 billion-peso airport,[1] funded in part by an 8.2-billion yen loan, commenced in August 2004. A 900-day deadline was imposed for the airport to be completed,[2] which broadly corresponds to January 2007.
The airport was complete as of July 16, 2007,[3] although there was considerable debate over whether or not the airport should be opened due to the length of its runway.[3] A 500-meter extension of the runway was planned in order for the airport to accommodate larger aircraft.[3] Depending on the scenario, the airport had a foreseen opening date of November 2007 or sometime in 2010, after the completion of a diversion road leading to the airport.[3]
The first aircraft ever to land at the airport was a small fourteen-seater turboprop owned by Vincent Aviation. The Reims-Cessna F406 with aircraft registration number ZK-VAF, piloted by Steve Gray of New Zealand landed at the airport at 9:55 in the morning of September 26, 2007.[4] The airport officially opened and began operations on January 18, 2008.
[edit] Airlines
The following airlines serve Bacolod-Silay City International Airport (as of January 2008):
- Air Philippines (Manila)
- Cebu Pacific (Cebu, Manila)
- Philippine Airlines (Manila)
- PAL Express (Cebu)
[edit] References
- ^ a b PGMA to inaugurate new Bacolod-Silay Airport on July 13, The News Today, July 5, 2007
- ^ a b c d e Bacolod Airport (BCD), Negros Island, Philippines, Airport Technology, retrieved August 4, 2007
- ^ a b c d GMA: Silay airport ready, debate delaying opening , Visayan Daily Star, July 16, 2007
- ^ First Plane that landed in Silay Airport. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Gallery
 Bacolod-Silay City International Airport passenger terminal |
 The airport's control tower |
|
|||||||||||
