Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Zamboanga International Airport (RPMZ) is the principal gateway to Zamboanga City on the western tip of Mindanao, in the southern Philippines. Built on the site of a Second World War American airfield, it now handles domestic and occasional international traffic on a single long runway, making it a straightforward VFR and IFR destination for simulator pilots exploring the southern Philippines.
Zamboanga International Airport serves Zamboanga City, the main urban centre on the Zamboanga Peninsula in western Mindanao. Operated under the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, it is officially classified as a Class 1 principal domestic airport despite its international designation, and it is a focus city for PAL Express. For a simulator pilot, it offers a single generously long hard runway set within a compact 270-hectare site, with a history stretching back to American military aviation in 1945.
The airport lies in Barangay Canelar, within Zamboanga City, on the Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao, in the southern Philippines. It sits in Philippine domestic airspace and is served by area approach control on 122.7 MHz, with tower control on 123.5 MHz and a flight service frequency on 124 MHz.
The airport has a single physical runway, 09/27, aligned east-west. It is 8,532 feet long with a hard surface and is lit, suitable for a wide range of aircraft types including large jets and military transports that have historically used the field.
Radio contact is available on APP 122.7 MHz for approach services, RDO TWR 123.5 MHz for tower, and FSS 124 MHz for flight service. There is no ILS at the airport, so arrivals should be prepared for visual or non-precision procedures.
The airfield originated as Moret Field, an American airstrip built to replace a Japanese airfield just north of Zamboanga. Construction began just after American forces landed on 15 March 1945, undertaken by Philippine Commonwealth troops and a U.S. Army airfield construction unit with considerable Filipino labour. The completed runway was about 1,400 metres long, aligned southwest to northeast, with taxiways and revetments on both sides. At the height of operations in 1945 around 300 aircraft flew from the field, most belonging to United States Marine Corps units of Marine Aircraft Group 24 supporting U.S. Army and Philippine Army operations across Mindanao and as far as Borneo. The airport later served international routes to Labuan, Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and Tarakan in Indonesia, though these were subsequently withdrawn and only sporadically revived. In 2004 it was placed under the Manila International Airport Authority. The airport has also seen military use, including support for Balikatan exercises with the United States, and has received notably large aircraft such as an Antonov An-124 and Boeing C-17 Globemasters. During the 2013 Zamboanga City crisis the airport was closed to civilian traffic for ten days, with a 40-kilometre no-fly zone enforced, before reopening on 19 September 2013 as security improved.
Zamboanga International Airport continues to operate as a Class 1 principal domestic airport and is a focus city for PAL Express, alongside plans periodically revived for renewed international services to destinations such as Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu. A rehabilitated and expanded passenger terminal was inaugurated in September 2021, and further terminal upgrades have since been carried out to increase seating and aircraft parking capacity. Longer-term plans exist to relocate the airport to a larger site outside the city, though this remains at the survey and land-acquisition stage.