San Luis Airstrip

Primarily economic reasons. The airstrip was a private facility built and maintained by a logging company to support its operations. With the implementation of widespread logging bans and the depletion of timber resources in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the company that operated it ceased its activities in the area. Without its primary user, there was no economic or logistical justification to continue maintaining the airstrip, and it was subsequently abandoned and fell into disrepair.

The site is completely defunct as an aviation facility. The physical outline of the runway is still clearly visible on satellite imagery, but it is in a severe state of disuse. A local road now cuts directly across the midpoint of the former runway. The surrounding area has been converted into an oil palm plantation, and parts of the runway surface itself are used for agricultural purposes, such as drying crops, or have been encroached upon by vegetation and small structures. It is unusable for any type of aircraft.

The San Luis Airstrip was a vital piece of infrastructure during the peak of the Philippine timber industry from the 1960s to the 1980s. It was a private airfield, likely operated by a major logging concessionaire such as Agusan Wood Industries Inc. (AGWOOD). Its primary function was to support the vast and remote logging camps in the area. Operations included: transporting company executives, engineers, and VIPs; flying in urgently needed machinery parts to minimize operational downtime; and, most critically, serving as a lifeline for medical evacuations. It typically handled light general aviation aircraft, such as Cessna, Piper, and Britten-Norman Islander models, which were capable of operating from short, unpaved runways.

There are no known or published plans to rehabilitate or reopen the San Luis Airstrip. The original economic driver for its existence (large-scale logging) is gone. While the road network in the interior of Agusan del Sur remains challenging, it has improved enough to make a small, remote airstrip like this redundant for most purposes. Given its deteriorated condition, the encroachment of agricultural and community infrastructure, and the lack of any new, compelling economic or strategic reason, the prospect of it ever being reopened as an airport is virtually zero.