Laguindingan Airport

Funding and implementation The airport project was implemented by the Philippine Government through the Department of Transportation and Communications. After the completion of the project, the airport was turned over to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. The airport project envisages the development of new major trunkline airports compliant to international standards of safety and operations to meet the air transportation demand of the region. The airport project also aims to boost economic activities, specifically of the Cagayan-Iligan Corridor, and expects to serve as the gateway to Northern Mindanao. The approved cost of the airport project is US$167.09 million or ₱7.853 billion. The cost was duly approved by the National Economic and Development Authority Board on August 30, 2007. Plans for the upgrade have existed since 1991 but have been stymied by land acquisition and financing problems. Although the Philippine Government has signed a US$25 million soft loan agreement with the South Korean government through its Economic Development Cooperation Fund, there has been difficulty in raising counterpart funding for acquisition of the estimated 300 hectares of land eventually required by the airport complex. The Laguindingan Airport Development Project was inaugurated on January 10, 2006, with groundbreaking ceremonies presided by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who advocated the idea of an international airport along the Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Corridor. Construction and opening By July 2007, the construction of the four-lane access road had started to connect the new airport to the national road. In early 2008, grading of the airport site area started. It was headed by the Department of Transportation and Communications and its foreign and local consultants, South Korea-based Yooshin Engineering Corporation and Ortigas Center, Pasig-based SCHEMA Konsult, Inc. respectively, and Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Company as the general contractor for the project. Former President Benigno Aquino III expected that the opening of the airport would happen in April 2013. However, on April 18, 2013, the DOTC announced that the opening would be pushed back to June 15, 2013 because CAAP had received requests from airlines to postpone the transfer until after the summer peak season, as an April 30 opening would require the cancellation of several daily trips. It was inaugurated by President Aquino on June 13, 2013, two days before its opening. Contemporary history Laguindingan Airport was expected to facilitate night landings by December 2014, upon the completion of the installation of various navigational systems. However, it was only on March 12, 2015, that the airport began to accommodate night flights. With this recent development, operating hours were increased to 5:00 am to 9:00 pm PHT from the previous 6:00 am to 6:00 pm PHT (sunrise-sunset) daily schedule. On October 20, 2017, Cebu Pacific launched the airport as its seventh hub, with its regional subsidiary Cebgo adding flights to Caticlan and Dumaguete from the airport. Philippine Airlines opened the Mabuhay Lounge at the airport in January 2018, but it has been closed since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ==Future development==

Upgrading and expansion In August 2013, the Project Development and Monitoring Facility Board approved the revision of the operations and maintenance of the airport. The operations and maintenance were already approved for funding, but were revised to include the construction of a new terminal to the winning PPP bidder. The Department of Transportation and Communications was tasked to construct the terminal along with other airside civil works, air navigational facilities, landside building works, and other facilities. The revision is part of maintaining the airport on par with ICAO standards. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and airport manager Jose Bodiongan, the airport would become the “busiest regional transportation hub” with the installation of the runway lights, navigation equipment (required for nighttime flights) and the purchase of two new fire trucks. An expansion of the passenger and cargo terminals and parking lot are being planned. With the large South Korean presence in Cagayan de Oro, the regional Department of Tourism is eyeing flights from Busan to Cagayan de Oro via Singapore or a direct route from Busan to Cagayan de Oro to further bolster the tourism industry in the region. The CAAP was set to initially approve Busan-Cagayan de Oro and Seoul-Cagayan de Oro flights by the fourth quarter of 2015, but these did not come to fruition. On February 26, 2019, Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. was granted by CAAP an Original Proponent Status (OPS) for its unsolicited proposal for the airport's upgrade, expansion, operations, and maintenance. After undergoing an unsuccessful Swiss challenge, on September 30, 2024, the Philippine government awarded Aboitiz InfraCapital with a contract to develop and maintain the airport beginning in April 2025. On October 28, 2024, the concession agreement was signed. Aerotropolis Ayala Land, who owned 183 of the 417 hectares of land acquired by the government to develop the airport complex, has future plans to develop an aerotropolis around the airport. This is part of the pre-conditions granted by Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for expropriating the lands the government bought from the corporation. ==Structure==

Passenger terminal The airport has a passenger terminal building that can accommodate 1.6 million passengers a year. The airport can accommodate 2,000 passengers a day. Building terminal Departures The airport has security screening machines in the main entrance and all entrances to boarding gates, check-in counters and drop-off counters by various airlines. There is a second floor for gates 1-3 while 4 is for arrivals only and bypass gate. All of the second-floor gates have jetways. With the new extension, new gates 5 and 6 are now open, but located at the ground level, and aircraft can be accessed or boarded by aircraft stairs. There are a few amenities such as restrooms, elevators, small playrooms, lounges and food stores. Gate 4 is used when there is no parking space for aircraft in the three major boarding gates and the landing time has been altered or the aircraft is in a holding pattern before landing. Arrivals The only arrival gate by building was the gate 4 and the aircraft can exit by the gate's jetway. After the gate, there are an elevator and stairs to the arrivals section of the building. In the arrival section are a baggage claim and vacant seats for waiting passengers. There is also a main exit at the baggage claim section. After the main exit is the Arrival Hall, with a few restaurants, food stores, souvenir shops and an exit to the arrival bays and parking lot. Also, there are people (served as taxi/shuttle drivers in various taxi/transport cooperatives) standing by at near the main exit of baggage claim area, waiting for their transport or going to their home location to any point such as Cagayan de Oro and Malaybalay, Bukidnon (Misamis Oriental), Iligan and Marawi (Lanao del Norte) and other parts of Misamis Occidental or Misamis Oriental. Runway The airport has a single concrete runway which can accommodate four takeoffs and landings an hour. The runway consists of over 500 blocks that are grouted by asphalt. The runway is equipped with an instrument landing system (ILS) and runway lightning, making it capable of night landings. ==Airlines and destinations==

Data from Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). ;Notes ==See also==