Saipan International Airport Francisco C. Ada Airport | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Commonwealth Ports Authority | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 215 ft / 66 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 15°07′08″N145°43′46″E / 15.11889°N 145.72944°E /15.11889; 145.72944 | ||||||||||||||
| Website | cpa | ||||||||||||||
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  SPN | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||||||
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| Source:Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||||||||
Saipan International Airport (IATA:SPN,ICAO:PGSN,FAALID:GSN), also known asFrancisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport, is a publicairport located onSaipan Island in theUnited States Commonwealth of theNorthern Mariana Islands. The airport is owned by Commonwealth Ports Authority.[1] Its airfield was previously known asAslito (during the JapaneseSouth Seas Mandate) andIsely Field (during the AmericanWorld War II and later period).
This airport is assigned a three-letterlocation identifier ofGSN by theFederal Aviation Administration, but theInternational Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code isSPN (the IATA assignedGSN to Mount Gunson Airport in Australia).[1][2][3][4]
Saipan International Airport was a sugarcane field before theImperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) constructed a temporary landing field on the site in 1933. The landing field was used for training purposes and had two runways configured in an "L" pattern. In 1937, the Navy began upgrading the airfield for full military use, despite an international law ban on constructing military facilities within theSouth Seas Mandate. Following the attack against the United States in 1941, the field was named Aslito Field (アスリート飛行場), based on the indigenousChamoru name for the area of its location, As Lito.
The IJNAS assigned two squadrons ofMitsubishi A6M5a-52 Zeros to the airfield in mid-June 1944. These squadrons took part in the occupation of the Mariana Islands during theBattle of the Philippine Sea later that month, being almost wiped out by the American forces during the battle.[citation needed]
The airfield was captured by theUnited States Army27th Infantry Division on June 18, 1944, during theBattle of Saipan. During the battle, a Zero fromGuam actually landed at Aslito Airfield, the pilot being unaware that the field was under American control. As it landed, the aircraft was fired at and damaged, crashing at the end of the runway. The pilot survived and the plane was captured. The field was renamedIsely Field after United States Navy Commander Robert H. Isely who was killed on June 13, 1944, while strafing the base.[5]
Once in American hands, Isely Field was quickly repaired and expanded bySeabees of the 3rd Battalion20th Marines, to becomeNaval Advance Base Saipan.[6] with the first P 47s of the 19th fighter Squadron landing on the 20th. The airfield was assigned toTwentieth Air ForceB-29 Superfortress operations. TheXXI Bomber Command had overall responsibility of the B-29 operations out of the Marianas bases, and Isely Field was to be used by the73rd Bombardment Wing (which consisted of the497th,498th,499th, and500th Bombardment Groups).[7]
On October 12, 1944, the first B-29Joltin Josie The Pacific Pioneer piloted by Brigadier GeneralHaywood S. Hansell commanding General ofXXI Bomber Command and copiloted by Major Jack J Catton of the873d Bombardment Squadron arrived at Isely Field. By November 22, over 100 B-29s were at Isely. The XXI Bomber Command was assigned the task of destroying the aircraft industry of Japan in a series of high-altitude, daylight precision attacks.[citation needed]
After several months of disappointing high level bombing attacks from Isely (and the other Twentieth Air Force airfields onGuam andTinian), GeneralCurtis LeMay, Commander of Twentieth Air Force issued a new directive that the high-altitude, daylight attacks be phased out and replaced by low-altitude, high-intensity incendiary raids at nighttime, being followed up with high explosive bombs once the targets were set ablaze. These nighttime attacks on Japan proved devastatingly effective, and the Superfortress missions from Isely Field led to massive destruction of industrial targets in Japan, with large industrial areas ofTokyo,Nagoya, andOsaka being repeatedly attacked by waves of American bombers flying from the Marianas until the war's end.[citation needed] In response to these attacks, most of theJapanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands between November 1944 and January 1945 targeted Isely Field.
The airfield and surviving World War II facilities were listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1981 as the "Isely Field Historic District", and are a contributing element of theNational Historic Landmark DistrictLanding Beaches; Aslito/Isely Field; & Marpi Point, Saipan Island, which was designated in 1985.
With the end of the war the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown toClark Air Base in thePhilippines for scrapping, or were flown to storage facilities inTexas orArizona. The 73d Bomb Wing was reassigned to the United States in December 1945. The airfield was returned to civil control and it reverted to being called Aslito Field.[citation needed]
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Saipan International Airport commenced operation on July 25, 1976, taking over from the nearbyKobler Field.[8]Continental Micronesia (originally Air Micronesia)[9] initially had its main hub at Kobler Field and then Saipan Airport. As time passed, the airline's general traffic to and from Saipan had decreased due to the breakup of theTrust Territory of the Pacific Islands; because the territory was subdivided into smaller political units, fewer people needed to travel to Saipan, the former capital of the trust territory.[10] On July 15, 2008, the airline's Manila-Saipan flight, the final remaining Continental Micronesia directly operated flight, ended.[11]
Japanese tourists began visiting Saipan in large numbers during the 1970s. The airfield and terminal were significantly upgraded in 1975 to handle widebody aircraft.
Northwest Airlines historically served Saipan fromTokyo-Narita usingMcDonnell Douglas DC-10 andBoeing 747 aircraft,[12] whileJapan Airlines (JAL) served Saipan from Narita andOsaka-Kansai using DC-10 andBoeing 767 aircraft respectively.[13] In 2005, JAL suspended its services from Japan to SPN; routes to Osaka and Nagoya were taken over by Northwest.[14] The airport was also renamed after former Lt. Gov.Francisco C. Ada that year.[15]
Delta Air Lines inherited Northwest's Saipan routes following its acquisition of Northwest in 2008. In 2018, Delta decided to withdraw from the Saipan market, simultaneously with terminating its service toPalau and one month after ending its service toGuam. Delta cited lower demand, as well as needs for additionalBoeing 757 aircraft on domestic US flights, as reasons for the withdrawal. Northwest and Delta served Saipan for a total of 29 years.[16]
Skymark Airlines began flights to Saipan in 2019 usingBoeing 737s from Narita.[17]
Saipan International Airport covers an area of 734acres (297 ha) which contains two pavedrunways: (7/25) measures 8,699 x 200 ft (2,651 x 61 m); (6/24) measures 7,001 x 100 ft (2,134 x 30 m).[1][20]
For the 12-month period ending January 31, 2022, the airport had 27,875 aircraft operations, an average of 76 per day: 28%general aviation, 69%air taxi, 3% scheduled commercial and <1% military.[1]
| Rank | City | Passengers | Top carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guam | 42,210 | United |
| 2 | Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands | 28,920 | Star Marianas |
| 3 | Rota, Northern Mariana Islands | 6,790 | Star Marianas |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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