Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kalibo International Airport lies on the plain east of Kalibo town on Panay Island in the Western Visayas, serving as one of two gateway airports for travellers bound for Boracay. It is classified as an international airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and handles both domestic and seasonal international services. For a visiting VFR pilot it offers a single long hard runway, a control tower and radar-fed approach service, set against a low-lying coastal landscape.
Kalibo International Airport (ICAO: RPVK, IATA: KLO) serves the general area of Kalibo, capital of Aklan province, and functions as one of the two airports used to reach the resort island of Boracay, the other being Godofredo P. Ramos Airport at Caticlan. It is one of only two internationally classified airports on Panay Island, alongside Iloilo International Airport, and is among the busiest fields in Western Visayas, with scheduled domestic and seasonal international traffic. For a simulator pilot it is a straightforward single-runway international field with a modest control tower, useful as a realistic Philippine regional airport for both airline and general aviation operations.
The airport sits about 2 kilometres east of the town proper of Kalibo, on the island of Panay, roughly 68 kilometres southwest of Caticlan port in the municipality of Malay, which is the nearer access point to Boracay itself. It is a controlled aerodrome with its own approach and tower service; the control tower itself is notably low, standing only 30 feet high, said to be the minimum tower height permitted at any airport in the Philippines.
The field has a single physical runway, 05/23, of 7,164 feet with a hard surface and runway lighting. There is no ILS.
Kalibo Approach operates on 123.1 MHz and Kalibo Tower on 124.2 MHz. Pilots should expect to work Approach prior to joining the circuit and Tower for landing or departure clearance.
The town of Kalibo itself, lying about 2 kilometres west of the airport, is the principal visual landmark for orientation on approach. Caticlan port, some 68 kilometres to the northeast, marks the onward route for pilots continuing toward the Boracay area.
Development of the airport accelerated from 2008, when construction began on a new terminal building funded in part by a presidential infrastructure package aimed at boosting Kalibo's role as a tourism gateway. Funds were also allocated in 2009 for installation of an Instrument Landing System. A runway extension project, adding around 200 metres to bring the strip toward 7,831 feet, was expected to open by the end of 2017. Further terminal rehabilitation and apron reblocking works began in mid-2018 and were completed in September 2020, with the finished project formally inaugurated in June 2021. The airport has seen a small number of notable incidents, including a tyre failure on landing by an Airbus A320 in April 2016 and a runway excursion by a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 in March 2019, both without serious injury.
Kalibo International Airport continues to handle a mix of domestic and seasonal international scheduled services, reflecting its role as a principal gateway to Boracay and the wider Aklan region. It remains equipped with a control tower and approach frequency for arriving and departing traffic, and its runway can accommodate narrow-body jet types such as the Airbus A320 family.