early as 1947. The first scheduled route, operated by Philippine Airlines (PAL), was from Manila to Puerto Princesa via San Jose, Mindoro and vice versa. The flight was scheduled during Wednesdays utilizing the DC-3 aircraft. During the early 1960s, Puerto Princesa catered its first direct flight from Manila using the Vickers Viscount aircraft and welcomed its first jet service via BAC 1-11 by the late 1970, both of which are operated by PAL. By the late 1990s, Puerto Princesa Airport welcomed its first wide-body aircraft service with Airbus A300 dubbed as the "Love Bus" operated by PAL. Expansion and contemporary history To meet the growing air transportation demands of Puerto Princesa and the province of Palawan, in 2014, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) awarded a $82.9-million () contract to the joint venture of Kumho Industrial Co. Ltd. and GS Engineering & Construction for the construction of new passenger terminal and cargo terminal building, a new apron, connecting taxiways, new state-of-the-art air navigation system, and other support facilities in compliance with the international civil aviation standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The new terminal was officially inaugurated on May 3, 2017 and opened for commercial operations on the next day. Philippine Airlines operated chartered flights from China, South Korea, and Taiwan in 2018. Meanwhile, Tigerair Taiwan launched commercial international flights to the airport from Taipei on June 7, 2019. Cebu Pacific also launched flights to Hong Kong from the airport on November 17 of that year. In March 2020, international flights were suspended due to the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with flights in Manila and Clark. Structures Terminal The airport has a two-level passenger terminal with a capacity of two million passengers annually and a seating capacity of 1,500. It was built by the joint venture of Kumho Industrial Co. Ltd. and GS Engineering & Construction. Its apron has six aircraft bays (four for narrow-body aircraft and two for wide-body aircraft as large as the Airbus A330, Airbus A350 and Boeing 787). The terminal has a Mabuhay Lounge by Philippine Airlines and a PAGSS Lounge. The terminal also has a seating capacity of 1,500. Outside the terminal is a parking lot with a capacity of 200 cars. The new terminal replaced the old passenger terminal with an annual capacity of 350,000 passengers and an apron with four parking bays. Runway The