Banga, PH 🇵🇭 Closed Airport
PH-0498
-
98 ft
PH-AKL
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 11.56298° N, 122.30838° E
Continent: AS
Type: Closed Airport
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Circa late 1990s to early 2000s. An exact date is not officially recorded as it was a private airstrip that fell into disuse rather than being formally decommissioned through a public process.
The closure was primarily due to economic and land-use changes. The airstrip was built for agricultural aviation (crop dusting). Its closure is linked to the decline of these specific operations and the implementation of the Philippines' Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in the area. Large plantations that used such airstrips were broken up and distributed to farmer beneficiaries, rendering the centralized airstrip obsolete for its original purpose.
The site is completely defunct as an airport. Satellite imagery confirms that the former runway is now heavily overgrown with grass and vegetation. It is no longer maintained and is impassable for aircraft. The land appears to be used informally by local residents as a path or access road, and surrounding areas are actively used for small-scale farming, consistent with the land's redistribution under agrarian reform.
Daja Airstrip was a private, unpaved (grass/dirt) airfield with no significant role in public or commercial transportation. Its sole purpose was to support large-scale agricultural operations in the municipality of Banga, Aklan. It was used by light, fixed-wing aircraft for crop dusting and aerial spraying on nearby plantations, likely for crops such as sugar or pineapple. The airstrip was a vital piece of infrastructure for a specific agricultural enterprise but held no wider historical or military significance.
There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Daja Airstrip. The prospect is considered extremely low to non-existent due to several factors:
1) The original economic driver (large-scale plantation agriculture requiring crop dusting) is gone.
2) The land is likely now owned by numerous individual farmers or a cooperative, making acquisition for aviation use legally complex and expensive.
3) The region is adequately served by the nearby Kalibo International Airport (KLO) for any commercial or general aviation needs.
4) The airstrip's infrastructure is non-existent, and significant investment would be required to make it operational again, for which there is no demand.