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LAOAG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Laoag International Airport (IATA: LAO, ICAO: RPLI) is the main airport serving the general area of Laoag, the capital city of the province of Ilocos Norte in the Philippines. It is the only airport in Ilocos Norte and is the northernmost international airport in the Philippines by geographical location. The airport is a popular charter destination for tourists from China.

It has one 2,420-meter runway and is designated as a secondary/alternate international airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a body of the Department of Transportation that is responsible for the operations of not only this airport but also of all other airports in the Philippines except the major international airports.

The airport was constructed by Americans before World War II as Gabu Airfield. The Japanese occupied the base on December 1941 and subsequently used it. During the Luzon campaign to retake the islands from the Japanese, Major Simeon Valdez led a raid on the airfield, burning the headquarters and setting fire to a fuel dump. Similar attacks follow in the succeeding days until its recapture on 15 February 1945 when it was abandoned due to Commonwealth military and guerrilla raids. By April 1945 the airfield was again operational hosting fighter and transport aircraft. The airfield became a staging area for flights and air missions against Japanese forces in Northern Luzon by April and Okinawa by June 1945.

After the war, the airfield was converted into a civilian airport.

The airport became one of the stops of the Breitling DC-3 World Tour held in 2017. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-3 with the registration number HB-IRJ landed for refueling in April as part of a round-the-world flight to celebrate the plane's 77th birthday.

The airport was also where 4 FA-50 light fighter aircraft were stored during the testing of Israeli radars on Paredes Air Station in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte. It is also said that in the future, the same FA-50s would be permanently stored in the airport as a warning squadron for any disaster/threat to the city.