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Iloilo's CABATUAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - Cabatuan, Iloilo, Philippines IloiloAirport.com
ILOILO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
CABATUAN, ILOILO

Map Showing the Cabatuan access roads (Brgy Tabucan and Brgy Tiring, Cabatuan) at the top, and the Pavia-Santa Barbara-Cabatuan access road (Brgy Duyan-Duyan, Cabatuan) at the right side.

Location:

The Iloilo International Airport is located entirely in the town of CABATUAN, Iloilo; specifically in Barangay Tabucan, Barangay Gaub, Barangay Duyan-Duyan and Barangay Manguna, all in Cabatuan, Iloilo.

The airport can be reached using either the Cabatuan access roads (Barangay Tabucan and Barangay Tiring, Cabatuan) or the Pavia-Santa Barbara-Cabatuan (Barangay Duyan-Duyan, Cabatuan) access road.

Facilities:

The Cabatuan International Airport is currently handling direct flights to Hong Kong and Singapore, in addition to domestic routes.

It is designed to handle 1.2 million passengers and 11,500 tons of cargoes per year and can accommodate aircrafts as big as an Airbus 330 with a seating capacity of 276.

The three-storey passenger terminal building has an area of 13,000 square meters, designed with complete separation for departing and arriving passengers. It has 10 check-in counters with individual weighing and queuing conveyors, belt conveyor from the check-in to the baggage loading area, flight information display system to guide passengers of the aircraft's time schedule and destination, and a transit counter.

The terminal is also provided with close-circuit television for security and monitoring purposes; and three units of passenger boarding bridges, which can stretch up to 35 meters when fully extended. The boarding bridge is accessible via a separated gang-way (one each for departing and arriving passengers). Other amenities of the building includes 6 x-ray machines, Mabuhay lounges for departing passengers and VIP room, smoking rooms, concessionaire areas for shoppers, lost and found section, counters for hotel and car rental bookings, allocated public telephone booths and others.

The facilities are guaranteed to be handicapped friendly, with railings, elevators, escalators and dedicated space for handicapped in the comfort rooms. The pre-departure area is located at the third floor of the building, with at least 436 seating capacity. The baggage claim area is located at the ground floor, accessible from the second floor with two units of 51 meters conveyor. There is also a separate section for the waiting public and well wishers at the arrival and departure concourse.

In front of the Passenger Terminal Building is a vehicular parking area with 414 slots for private cars, complete with tollbooth and a drivers' lounge and rest rooms. Spaces for taxi, buses and jeepney stands are, likewise, provided.

The airport's Cargo Terminal Building is a 1,300-square meter storey structure consisting of a covered platform, government offices, restrooms and cargo handling area. It is now being occupied by the 3-airline companies, namely, the Philippine airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines. The area is secured by fence with guard house and parking space for clients and operators.

The Control tower, on the other hand, is a 9-storey 35 meters structure that operates and control air traffic for the airport, with a two-storey operation building that houses the state-of-the-art communication equipment and the briefing room for pilots.

For better and efficient operations, and maintenance, the mechanical and electrical buildings were constructed separately. The mechanical building houses the chiller room, and water supply and pump room, while the cooling system for the whole airport is about 2,400kw, consisting of five units of chillers, each having a capacity of 600kw.

On the other hand, the entire electrical system of the airport can generate 2,500kVA supply of power, while the generator room is equipped with 4 units of 500kVA standby generator and automatically switch-on during power failure.

Other buildings and facilities in the airport include the 2-storey Administration Building, Maintenance Building, and Fire Rescue Stations state-of-the-art navigational aids which enable the airport to operate after dark, and the runway designation designed to cater to even bad weather conditions.

The Airport's environment friendly facilities include a Sewage Treatment Plant, a single storey structure considered as the final holding area of the generated domestic sewage. During the treatment process the solid waste is separated from the liquid and process into an organic material (fertilizer) for the plants, while the liquid is recycled for watering purposes. There is also a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) structure for the segregation of the solid waste collected in the airport. (PIA 6, 2007/06/12, by ES Subong)

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History:

The forerunner of the Cabatuan International Airport in the area was the Cabatuan Airfield during World War II. This airfield was located in Barrio Tiring, Cabatuan, Iloilo.

JAPANESE SURRENDER IN CABATUAN AIRFIELD (RIGHT)
© Cabatuan.com

The Cabatuan Airfield was the site of the official Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. On this date, which happened to be also the day the Japanese signed the surrender instrument in Japan (aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, left photo), the Japanese Panay Unit commander signed his own surrender instrument at Cabatuan Airfield (right photo).

Had the Japanese not surrendered in September 1945, the very first unit scheduled to land on Japan on November 1945 (in a massive invasion dwarfing even the Normandy Landing in Europe) will be the American troops based in Cabatuan Airfield.

A recruiting and training unit of the U.S. Army was also based in Cabatuan to recruit local guerillas for the Allied invasion of Japan.

© Cabatuan.com

It was called the Tiring Landing Field (TLF) by the Free Panay Civil Government of Governor Thomas Confesor and the Panay guerillas of Col. Peralta; the Cabatuan Airfield by the Japanese Forces; and the Tiring Airfield by the U.S. Forces.

By mistake, the Americans have also called this airfield the Santa Barbara Airfield even though it is not located in Santa Barbara. They were apparently cognizant of the error and the confusion the name might cause that they usually write "(Tiring)" next to the name. It is worth noting that the neighboring town Santa Barbara HAS NO Barrio Tiring, unlike Cabatuan, which has one. Other writers who do not know the geography of the place may have added to the error by simply assuming that the airfield mistakenly called Santa Barbara is located in a place called Santa Barbara, even though it is actually located in Cabatuan.

Before the Cabatuan International Airport was built, the people of Cabatuan still used the term "Landing" to refer to the airfield site.

Construction of the Cabatuan Airfield started at the beginning of 1942. Maj. Claude Fertig, a Masbate mining executive and a military reserve engineer, was appointed Airfield Officer and was tasked to build airfields for fighter planes in Panay. The planned fighter planes were intended to provide cover to American bombers operating from Mindanao.

Claude Fertig was the brother of Col. Wendell Fertig, another Masbate miner who also escaped to Panay and then to Mindanao, where he became the leader of the guerilla forces of that island.

Claude appointed two American Masbate miners as the supervisor and assistant supervisor of construction at Cabatuan Airfield. Their job was to construct the 5,000 feet by 100 feet runway, as well as taxiways and facilities for 25 fighter aircrafts and their crews.

According to the assistant supervisor of construction, Cabatuan Airfield became the home of the legendary Bamboo Fleet for two months, from the time the unit was created until the Japanese came to Panay. The Bamboo Fleet was a collection of about 5 assorted aircrafts piloted by the U.S. military. It provided a valuable lifeline to Bataan and Corregidor by flying night missions from Cabatuan with badly-needed medical and food supplies. One of the aircrafts, a U.S. Navy duck, earned the legendary nickname Candy Clipper for the candies that it brought to the troops of Bataan and Corregidor, in addition to other supplies.

Because of the progress of the war, only two fighter aircrafts, both P-40's, made Cabatuan Airfield their home before the Japanese invaded Panay. On one occasion, while flying recon from Cabatuan Airfield, a P-40 stumbled upon the Japanese invasion of Cebu. Singlehandedly, the plane strafed all the Japanese vessels and aircrafts that it can, then flew back to Cabatuan to take on fuel and ammo, and took off again to attack the Japanese fleet. This action earned the pilot the Distiguished Service Cross medal (United States).

The P-40 is the same type of aircraft used by the famed "Flying Tigers," with the shark teeth painted under the noses of their planes.

When Bataan was about to fall, aircrafts of the Bamboo Fleet snatched Carlos P. Romulo to Panay and then to Mindanao, earning Romulo the monicker "The Last Man out of Bataan."

TO BE CONTINUED...

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