Zamboanga International Airport - History

History

The airport started off as Moret Field, an American airfield that was constructed from a rather poor Japanese airfield just north of Zamboanga. Construction was started by Philippine Commonwealth troops just after American forces landed at the present location on the 15th of March 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 revetment areas. At the peak of operations in 1945, there were about 300 aircraft flying from the airfield. The vast majority were United States Marine Corps aircraft from Marine Aircraft Group 24 which were 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 via Philippine Airlines and Kota Kinabalu by Malaysia Airlines; these international services were eventually cut. The 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 due to poor load of passengers. Likewise, Asian Spirit commenced service to Sandakan on May 2, 2007, restarting Zamboanga's international operations. The Zamboanga-Sandakan route and other international routes are expected to grow with the signing of a BIMP-EAGA open skies agreement, notably with Indonesia's Sriwijaya Air planning to fly the Zamboanga-Sandakan route.

Zamboanga International Airport, along with all other international airports in the Philippines, was placed under the control of the Manila International Airport Authority under Executive Order No. 341, signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on August 4, 2004. The changes in management were slated to take effect in June 2007, although it is unknown whether or not the change in management did take place.

Due to the US-RP Agreement, the US Air force used the Airport while the Balikatan exercise held on this city. The biggest aircraft to land in Zamboanga International Airport is the Russian Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan made to deliver helicopters and some equipment for the American base here in Zamboanga. North American Airlines Boeing 757-200s were chartered to transport American soldiers from Guam to Zamboanga. Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs flying from Okinawa come to Zamboanga every now and then. Gemini Air Cargo's DC-10 was once in Zamboanga Airport for delivery of the materials needed for the US Air Force training.

There were plans to transfer the airport to a 104-hectare lot located between Barangays Talabaan and Taluksangay, possibly making it the largest airport in Mindanao. However, this plan was shelved after the loan application for the project was turned down, resulting in a lack of funding.