Mactan-Cebu International Airport

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Mactan Cebu International Airport Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Mactan-Cebu

IATA: CEB - ICAO: RPVM
Summary
Airport type		public
Operator		Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA)
Serves		Cebu City
Elevation AMSL		33 ft (11 m)
Coordinates		10°18′48″N, 123°58′58″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
04L/22R	10,390	3,300	Paved

Mactan-Cebu International Airport (Filipino: Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Mactan-Cebu) (IATA: CEB, ICAO: RPVM) is a major airport in the Visayas region of the Philippines. It is located in Lapu-Lapu City, Mactan Island, Metro Cebu and is the busiest outside Manila's NAIA.

The airport has a large apron, a single 3,300 meter runway, and a taxiway. Its terminal building which incorporates both the domestic and international wings supported by only four aero-bridges (jetways). Shops can be found at the pre-departure area and departure hall including two outlets of Duty Free Philippines.

A VIP facility, constructed for the 2006 ASEAN Summit, will later on be converted into a Low Cost Carrier (LCC) terminal for budget airlines. The airport is also planning to transfer its administrative offices, which are currently occupying a big chunk in the main terminal building, to a new administrative building nearby which, as of now, is still under construction.

The area of airport property is 10.56 km².

2,789,699 passengers used the airport in 2005. [1]

1 History
2 Problems
3 Airlines
- 3.1 Former airlines
4 External links

[edit] History

This is the former site when Ferdinand Magellan arrived and where Rajah Humabon of Cebu and his wife were baptized and rename them Carlos and Juana.

The airport opened in the mid-1960s. It was built to replace Lahug Airport, which could not be expanded due to safety and physical problems. The airport was then expanded in its later years to become the current Mactan-Cebu International Airport. The airport is currently the second busiest in the country after Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport (commonly known/called simply as NAIA) and serves as the country's primary alternative gateway.

On December 11, 1994, Philippine Airlines Flight 434 was flying on its second leg of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport - Mactan-Cebu International Airport - New Tokyo International Airport (now Narita International Airport) route when a bomb on board exploded, killing a passenger. The airliner was able to make an emergency landing. Authorities later found out that Ramzi Yousef planted the bomb on the airliner to test the bomb for his Project Bojinka plot. His project was discovered in Manila after an apartment fire on the night of January 5 and the morning of January 6, 1995.

Ramzi Yousef was on board Flight 434 from Manila when he planted the bomb beneath a vacant seat. He used a fake identity thus he was able to pass through security in Manila. Yousef set the time for the bomb to blow off when the airline is already in its Cebu-Tokyo leg. Yousef got off the plane during the stopover in Cebu from Manila.

[edit] Problems

The airport has a very small 'official' parking area, relative to its size. Furthermore, this 'official' parking area's location is quite far from the departure and/or arrival halls. Due to this, Waterfront Airport Hotel's multi-level parking building is often used rather than the 'official' parking area.

There is also a lack of any public transit system that allows affordable transport into and out of the airport. Aside from guests of bus-serviced resorts like Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort, out-of-town passengers [tourists/visitors] who have no personal hosts (i.e., family friends) or personal-owned vehicle services are forced to use fixed-rate taxis and/or expensive driver-included rent-a-car services.

[edit] Airlines

The following airlines serve the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (as of March 2007):

Domestic Wing
- Air Philippines (Bacolod, Davao, General Santos, Iloilo, Manila, Puerto Princesa)
- Asian Spirit (Cagayan de Oro, Malay)
- Cebu Pacific (Bacolod, Davao, Iloilo, Kalibo, Manila, Manila-Clark, Puerto Princesa, Zamboanga)
- Philippine Airlines (Manila)
- South East Asian Airlines (Cotabato, Malay, Mambajao)