Bagabag Airport

Bagabag Airport Pagtayaban ti Bagabag (Ilocano) Paliparan ng Bagabag (Filipino)
Exterior of Bagabag Airport
IATA: none ICAO: RPUZ
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines
Serves	Bagabag
Location	Villa Coloma, Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya
Elevation  AMSL	250 m / 820 ft
Coordinates	16°37′09″N121°15′07″E / 16.61917°N 121.25194°E / 16.61917; 121.25194
Map
RPUZ Location in the Philippines
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 09/27 1,200 3,937 Concrete
Statistics
Passengers (2016) 509
Statistics from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. [1]

Bagabag Airport (Ilocano : Pagtayaban ti Bagabag, Filipino : Paliparan ng Bagabag) ( ICAO : RPUZ) is an airport serving the general area of Bagabag, located in the province of Nueva Vizcaya in the Philippines. It is the only airport in Nueva Vizcaya and is classified as a community airport ^[2] by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a body of the Department of Transportation that is responsible for the operations of airports in the Philippines except the major international airports.

History

The airport was built during World War II for the use of American soldiers. ^[3] Following the Japanese surrender in September 1945, General Tomoyuki Yamashita and his entourage, following their capitulation in Ifugao, were transported by car to the airport, where they were transported by plane to La Union on their way to Baguio. ^[4] After Philippine independence, the airfield was converted into a civilian airport by president Diosdado Macapagal. ^[3]

Access

It is the closest public airport to the Banaue Rice Terraces at Banaue, the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras at Banaue, Mayoyao, Hungduan and Kiangan; the tourist town of Sagada, Mountain Province; and other attractions in the province of Nueva Vizcaya such as the Bayombong Cathedral, Imugan Falls in Santa Fe, Mount Palali and the Capisaan Caves in the Caraballo Mountains and the San Vicente Ferrer Church in Dupax del Sur. ^[5]

Destinations

Philippine Airlines operated flights to Bagabag in the 1970s but later cancelled them. In 2000, SeaAir briefly operated charter flights to Bagabag. ^[3]

Following years of only seeing limited use by mostly general aviation and military flights, the airport will once again be serviced by regular commercial flights (at a frequency of every four days) beginning 1 June 2017, with Platinum Skies using 31-seater Dornier 328 aircraft chartered by Wakay Tours to carry passengers availing of their Banaue tour packages. ^[5] The 30-minute flight to Bagabag from Clark International Airport cuts down travel time to Banaue from Manila, normally a 10- to 12-hour drive, by half. ^[5]

References

1. Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines - Aerodrome Development & Management Service (28 March 2017). "2016 Passenger Statistics of all Philippine Airports". Republic of the Philippines - Freedom of Information Portal. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
2. "CAAP Airport Directory". Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. August 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
3. Gascon, Melvin (24 May 2017). "Trip to Ifugao terraces faster with Clark-N. Vizcaya flights". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Retrieved 14 November 2025.
4. Pobre, Cesar P. Victory in Northern Luzon. Philippine Veterans Affairs Office. p. 283-284.
5. Pinili, Potpot (18 May 2017). "Banaue rice terraces now only 5 hours away from Manila". Rappler . Retrieved 22 May 2017.

External links

• Airport information for RPUZ at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF  (effective October 2006).