Private flights to Iloilo

Iloilo is the gateway to Panay's southern half: a riverside city of old stone mansions and food worth the trip on its own, the UNESCO-listed Miagao Church an hour down the coast, Guimaras and its mangoes a short boat ride across the strait, and the Dinagyang Festival every January. The airport is inland at Cabatuan, about half an hour from the city, and it is well served by the airlines from Manila and Cebu.

That makes the private aircraft here a matter of timing. Dinagyang weekend sells out every seat; the evening schedule cannot always make a same-day return; and a trip continuing north to Sicogon or the Gigantes islands, or across to Boracay, is a long road transfer that a light aircraft can shorten. From Mactan a chartered Cessna 172 takes about 50 minutes, west over the Negros ranges and the Guimaras Strait.

The Cebu leg is priced in both directions for the whole aircraft, live in pesos and dollars. Palawan to Iloilo and any Panay onward hop are quoted rather than listed: search the pair and operators bid within hours. A booking is a request the operator confirms, usually within hours, and nothing is charged until they do.

Why fly to Iloilo

The case for flying privately is control of the day. A group that lands in Cebu from abroad, or wraps a meeting there at four, can be at dinner in Iloilo the same evening without waiting on a seat. For a festival weekend or a business round trip, fifty minutes on your own departure time is often the only way the plan works.

The case for the airline is frequency and price. Daily jets make Iloilo easy for anyone with flexible dates, and a solo traveller will pay far less for a seat than for an aircraft. Anyone between those extremes should check the empty legs page, where repositioning flights on the Cebu network are sold at a steep discount.