Villamor Air Base

Villamor Air Base
Villamor Air Base
	IATA: MNL; ICAO: RPLL;
Summary
Airport type	Public/Military
Operator	Philippine Air Force
Serves	Manila
Elevation AMSL	23 m / 75 ft
Coordinates	14°30′31″N 121°01′10″E / 14.50861°N 121.01944°E
Website	www.paf.mil.ph
Map
	Villamor Air Base Location in the Philippines
Runways

Villamor Air Base
Villamor Air Base
Pasay City, Philippines
	522nd Logistics Group Headquarters Building
Coordinates	14°30′31″N 121°01′10″E / 14.50861°N 121.01944°E
Type	airbase
Site information
Owner	Philippines
Controlled by	Philippine Air Force
Condition	Active, as of 2016
Site history
Built	1919
Built by	United States
In use	1919–present
Battles/wars	World War II
Events	Philippines campaign (1941–42); Philippines campaign (1944–45);

Colonel Jesus Villamor Air Base, known simply as Villamor Air Base (IATA: MNL, ICAO: RPLL), is the headquarters of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and shares runways with Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). It was formerly known as Nichols Field or Nichols Air Base. Chiefly used as a PAF transport/helicopter airbase, the Maharlika Hall located at the base is used by the president of the Philippines when departing for foreign or domestic trips.^[1] Also, foreign dignitaries visiting Manila would usually arrive at the air base.

The base is named after Filipino World War II pilot Jesús A. Villamor.

History

The air base was built as Nichols Field in 1919 by the United States during the insular government era and in 1941, was used as an airfield by the United States Army Air Forces in the South West Pacific Theatre. The field was the location of the U.S. Far East Air Force's U.S. 20th Air Base Group. Also, based at the field was Troop F of the U.S. 26th Cavalry Regiment.

A Fifth Air Force base, Nichols Field was within the territory of Imperial Japan during their occupation of the Philippines from December 1941 to January 1945.

Nichols Air Base

Designated Nichols Air Base after Philippine independence, in 1997, the base was reduced to make way for construction of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 and Newport City.

In 2010, the AVSECOM van (called by some as "Ninoy Aquino's death van") which had carried the body of Ninoy Aquino to the hospital after his assassination in 1983 was found rotting inside Nichols Air Base (now called Villamor Airbase). This was reported only two years later by ABS-CBN News.^[2] Photos of this "death van" were subsequently posted on the blog site of the Filipino investigative journalist, Raissa Robles, who reported the discovery.^[3]