Template:Airport frame Template:Airport title Template:Airport image Template:Airport infobox Template:Runway title Template:Runway Template:Airport end frame 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. A 4-star hotel — the Waterfront Mactan Airport Hotel — sits right in front of the airport terminal.
The airport has a large apron, a single runway, and a taxiway. Its terminal building which incorporates both the domestic and international wings has four boarding tubes although there were proposals to expand these. Shops including duty free can also be found inside the terminal building.
A VIP facility is currently being constructed in preparation for an upcoming international conference, which 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.
In 2005, 2,789,699 passengers used the airport.[1]
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.
Airlines
The following airlines serve the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (as of March 2007):
- Domestic Wing
- Air Philippines (Bacolod, Davao, General Santos, Iloilo, 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)
- Tiger Airways
- Tiger Airways operated by South East Asian Airlines (Manila-Clark) [begins March 25, 2007]
- International Wing
- Asiana Airlines (Seoul-Incheon)
- Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
- Cebu Pacific (Busan, Hong Kong, Seoul-Incheon, Singapore)
- China Airlines
- Mandarin Airlines (Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)
- Malaysia Airlines (Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur)
- Philippine Airlines (Seoul-Incheon, Tokyo-Narita)
- Qatar Airways (Doha)
- Singapore Airlines
- SilkAir (Singapore)