Legazpi Airport
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Legazpi Airport, in the Philippines, is the Bicol Region's only trunkline airport. With a runway of 2280 x 36 meters, longer than those of Bacolod (1958 x 30 meters) or Iloilo (2100 x 43 meters), the airport can handle medium-sized civilian jets and military aircraft. Jet age came to Legazpi in the late 1960s and by the '70s Philippine Airlines (PAL) introduced regular service to/from Manila using British Aircraft Corporation's BAC 1-11's (in contrast, its rival Pili only saw jet service in the late '90s; to this day, Pili can only handle half-capacity payload due to its short runway, 1402 x 30 meters, less than two-thirds that of Legazpi's). In the late 1980s PAL introduced Boeing 737-300s. YS-11's provided airlink to Mactan Cebu, Masbate, and Virac. When PAL phased out the YS-11's and the short-lived Shorts SD-360 'Sunriser,' Fokker 50s replaced them. Prior to the debilitating labor strike in 1998 which caused PAL to temporarily cease operation, Legazpi Airport served as the airline's hub in Bicol, serving Manila, Cebu, Masbate, Virac, even Catarman, Samar. Today, it serves not only local clients but also transient passengers from southern Camarines Sur and the province of Sorsogon.
Aside from PAL, Filipinas Orient Airways and Air Manila International served the airport prior to 1972, the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines. Through the years, other airlines came and went: Air Philippines for some time served Legazpi with YS-11's and Boeing 737-200s. Asian Spirit served Pili for flights to/from Manila and Cebu and has since ceased operations with Php6M collectibles from local (Naga or Pili) franchisees; Asian Spirit might introduce flights to Legazpi aside from its sectors in Virac and Masbate. At present, Aboitiz also regularly calls on Legazpi. SEAir, using the 19-seat LET-410, plies Cebu-Legazpi-Cebu Mondays and Fridays.
When the pope, John Paul, visited the Philippines in 1981, his itinerary included Legazpi, not Naga (although arguably Naga is the "seat" of Catholicism in the region), because as discussed above, Pili cannot handle medium sized jets. The papal plane was a chartered PAL Boeing 727 tri-jet. The late president Ferdinand Marcos arrived with his own jet; his first lady, Imelda, and the then minister of defense, Juan Ponce-Enrile, arrived with their own retenues on separate jets.
In the mid-1990s a Harrier jumpjet of the US Marines made an emergency landing here. Nearby Alicia Hotel housed the unexpected guests for days while the aircraft was being repaired. During that time, day and night, the airport site became an aviation museum of sorts with curious on-lookers taking a glimpse at the heavily guarded fighter plane, exactly the same piece used in the Schwarzenegger film True Lies.
In February 2000, during a lull in Mayon's eruption (which suspended regular commercial service), a chartered Boeing 727 tri-jet from Guam landed, bringing relief goods for evacuees.
In September 15, 2001, coming home from her state visit to Japan, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo flew to Legazpi non-stop from Tokyo using a chartered PAL Airbus A320, highlighting the capability of the airport to handle international air traffic. In November 26, 2003, a Cebu Pacific DC 9-32 Mc Donnell Douglas Aircraft brought delegates to the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) delegates on a charter flight from Cebu.
Although operating as sunrise-sunset (SR-SS) due to lack of instrument landing system (ILS), the airport can handle night landings and take-off but only on prior notice.
The airport is up for upgrading. It has no ILS such that low cealing during inclement weather causes flight cancellations, to the chagrin of passengers. It is also only about 12 kilometers from the crater of Mayon Volcano; during eruptions, flights are cancelled because of the danger posed by ashfall. The Regional Development Council had previously approved the feasibility study to transfer the airport to a site some 27 kilometers from the crater of Mayon, in barangay Bariis south of Legazpi City. Aside from the advantage of its being way out of ashfall's reach, it is midway between Legazpi and the province of Sorsogon and the emerging eco-tourism destination of Donsol with its whale sharks. Of late, some politicians, though, were able to maneuver that the site be transferred to Alobo, Daraga which at 15 kilometers from Mayon's crater, is only two or three kilometers farther from the present runway. Also, planes using Alobo will take the same approach used at present: through Jovellar/Camalig areas that are prone to ashfall during eruptions; planes will also fly over the urban areas of Daraga and Legazpi. If it will be Bariis, approach/takeoff will be along thinly populated land; even over the sea (Poliqui Bay and Albay Gulf), making 24/7 operations feasible and practical.