History
In 1950, Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, envisioned an army base in the Western Pacific to enhance Seventh Fleet capabilities. In 1951, construction started on the Subic Bay Naval Base. In 1952, Admiral Radford made his first landing at Cubi Point. After decades of use by American forces, Mount Pinatubo exploded in 1991, burying Cubi Point in 18-36 inches of ash. Despite this, the American government wished to keep the Subic Naval Base and signed a treaty with the Philippine government. The treaty was not ratified, however, failing by a slim margin in the Philippine Senate. Attempts to negotiate a new treaty were soon abandoned and the United States was informed that it was to withdraw within one year. U.S. forces withdrew in November 1992, turning over the facility with its airport to the Philippine government. Initially some 8,000 volunteers guarded the facility and prevented looters from damaging the facilities. The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) was created by intense lobby of then-Mayor Richard Gordon to manage the facility under Republic Act No. 7227. He was appointed first Chairman and Administrator.
Twenty days after the departure of American forces, the airport ushered in its first commercial flight from Taiwan via Makung. In February 1993, NAS Cubi Point was converted to Cubi Point International Airport, a few months later, it was renamed Subic Bay International Airport. To herald its designation as an international airport, President Fidel V. Ramos chose to arrive from an official visit to the United States using the airport. This flight also proved the capabilities of the airport as the President arrived aboard the delivery flight of Philippine Airlines's first Boeing 747-400. Construction of the present runway commenced in 1993 Hanjin Heavy Industries Construction and was completed in April 1995 in time for the inaugural landing of FedEx Express MD-11 and the opening of FedEx's AsiaOne hub at SBIA. In time for the 4th APEC Leaders' Summit, the new passenger terminal built by Summa Kumagai was inaugurated on November 4, 1996. In 1997, SBIA topped the 100,000th passenger count. In 2006, there were limited regularly scheduled commercial flights from Subic Bay.
Read more about this topic: Subic Bay International Airport
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