Sipalay Airport

Sipalay Airport Hulugpaan sang Sipalay Paliparan ng Sipalay
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Owner/Operator	City Government of Sipalay
Serves	Sipalay, Negros Occidental, Philippines
Location	Brgy. San Jose
Coordinates	9°47′33″N 122°27′6″E / 9.79250°N 122.45167°E
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 1,300[1] 4,625 Gravel
Sources: Aerial image of Sipalay Airport at WikiMapia

Sipalay Airport (Filipino: Paliparan ng Sipalay, Hiligaynon: Hulugpaan sang Sipalay), also known as San Jose Airstrip and formerly known as Maricalum Airstrip, is an airport serving the general area of the city of Sipalay, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines. It used to active serve the private planes of mining companies present in the area. Though there are currently no commercial flights, the airport serves occasional chartered planes en route to the commercial and private resorts in the area.

History

Formerly owned by the Maricalum Mining Corporation, which shut down its copper mining operations in 1996, the airstrip was awarded to the City Government of Sipalay by a decision of the Regional Trial Court in Kabankalan, in the seat of Judge Henry Arles. ^[2] In 2005, the City Council of Sipalay passed City Ordinance 2005-009 that laid down the expropriation of the property as an airport. The most notable guest to land in the airport was the private plane carrying then presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro, in his campaign sortie in 2010.

Future use a commercial airport

According to former Mayor, now Vice-Mayor, Oscar C. Montilla, the opening of the airport to commercial operations will boost the tourism initiative in southern Negros, adding further to the average of 50,000 tourists visiting the city alone. He further added last March 31, 2013 that SEAir has shown interest in operating charter flights to Sipalay. The airport will fulfill the role of a reliever airport mainly for the Kabankalan City Domestic Airport under construction.^[3][4] Former Negros Occidental Vice-Governor Genaro Alvarez, a pilot by profession, said that Sipalay Airport can be operation only a few days should commercial operations commence as the runway only needs a grader and road roller to clear the runway.^[5]

References

2. "Sipalay can turn mine airstrip into airport–court - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos". Globalnation.inquirer.net. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
3. "City Mayor Oscar Montilla pushes upgrade of Sipalay airport". Sun.Star. 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
4. "DAILY STAR: Top Stories". Visayandailystar.com. 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
5. "DAILY STAR: Top Stories". Visayandailystar.com. 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2014-06-27.