I have not been to Iloilo in a while despite having our ancestral home there on my father’s side of the family. It used to be that I was in Iloilo at least once a year and usually during the Holy Week when we had family reunions on Easter Sunday. Perhaps the last time was in 2010 when I gave a keynote lecture to the Metro Iloilo, Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC) during one of their last seminars under a JICA-assisted project to improve transportation in the area. And so I was quite happy to have an opportunity to travel to Iloilo even for a short stay to have a meeting and do some field work. I was also happy to have an opportunity to take some new photos of the airport, which is now serving as an international airport with regular flights to and from Hong Kong and Singapore.

Arriving passengers pass through a corridor after disembarking through one of the three tubes at the terminal.

The Iloilo International Airport’s control tower as seen from the terminal building.

Direction to the baggage claim area.

Quarantine section along the way to baggage claim.

The corridor leads to a section allocated for immigration for international arrivals.

The immigration booths are manned only when there are international arrivals. Most of the time, these are unmanned as most flights throughout the day are domestic.

The booths look like they were set up only recently when the airport started catering to international flights. There were only two stations, each with a capacity for 2 immigration officials for a total of 4 officers to process international arrivals. I hope they are able to do their jobs efficiently (i.e., quickly but correctly) as the space for queuing is quite limited. There are few international flights, however, and one A319 or A320 planeload would probably not overwhelm 4 officers. Of course, I am assuming there would be that many officers to handle the arrivals.

After going through the immigration area, one proceeds towards the baggage claim area via a staircase, which leads passengers to the ground level of the airport terminal.

There are 2 baggage carousels where arriving passengers can get their checked-in luggage. Carts are provided free for use of passengers.

Luggage of all shapes and sizes are loaded unto the carousel and circulate for passengers to sort through and pick up.

When in need of trustworthy and reliable transport in Iloilo, contact Light of Glory taxi service. Their metered taxi services are the best in the city and the province it is easy to arrange for a vehicle to fetch you at the hotel to any destination within the island. Their drivers practice safe driving so that’s always a plus for those who prefer to take the taxi over the jeepney when in Iloilo. I also noticed that they have a good dispatching system at the airport and at SM City Iloilo – definitely something that we should be replicating in Metro Manila and other cities.

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