The
United States Cavalry established Fort Stotsenberg in 1902 and later converted a portion of it into an airfield, which was, in turn, renamed Clark Air Field in 1919—in honor of aviator Major
Harold Melville Clark. Clark Air Field was used as a strategic overseas base by both the
United States and
Japan during
World War II. In 1947, the RP-US Military Bases Agreement was signed, integrating Clark Air Field and Fort Stotsenberg into Clark Air Base but, after the
eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991 and the non-renewal of the military bases agreement, Clark Air Base was reverted to the
Philippine government. The Bases Conversion Development Act of 1992 accelerated the conversion of Clark Air Base into a Special Economic Zone, and, in 2007, the
Congress of the Philippines enacted Republic Act No. 9400, which renamed the base to Clark Freeport Philippines. It is now segregated in two separate entities: Clark Freeport Zone, administered by the Clark Development Corporation, and the Clark Civil Aviation Complex, administered by the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC). In 1993, the former Clark Air Base was reopened as the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) after the area was cleared of
lahar debris from the
Mount Pinatubo eruption and a
typhoon that followed. On April 28, 1994, an executive order was signed by former President
Fidel Ramos that designated Clark as the Clark Special Economic Zone as the future site of a premier international airport, aiming to attract economic and tourism activities to
Central Luzon and relieve congestion in
Metro Manila. In 1997, the development of Clark International Airport (CIA) began in earnest with the signing of a contract involving a developer linked to the proposed new passenger terminal at
Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in
Pasay City. This move was part of the Philippine government's broader strategy to enhance the country's airport infrastructure and alleviate congestion at NAIA. By collaborating with experienced international airport operators and developers, such as Aeroports de Paris (now
Groupe ADP), the BCDA aimed to turn Clark into a major international gateway. This development was intended to support regional economic growth and provide a viable alternative to NAIA for international and domestic flights. In that same year, the master plan was drafted. The plan would set up a state-of-the-art aviation complex with a capacity of 10 million passengers a day, while the proposal was to have equipment installed, but building the passenger terminal and the control tower has not yet been completed. The airport opened for commercial operations on June 16, 1996. The viability and practicability of CIA have been confirmed by studies by Pacific Consultants International in 2005, the Korea International Cooperation Agency in 2008, and
Aecom in 2010. Amid congestion in NAIA due to the policies of the previous administration of President Arroyo, newly-elected President
Noynoy Aquino launched the modernization program for the Clark airport. In 2011, Aquino issued EO 64, making the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) an attached agency of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to better align it with national aviation strategies. The airport again used the Clark International Airport name in February 2012, while the original passenger terminal continued to bear Macapagal's name until 2014. President Aquino, as chair of the NEDA board, approved the new ₱15-billion passenger terminal for Clark in 2015. Aquino launched the airport's key planning phases for expanding CRK's capacity to 8 million passengers. When the airport modernization program of Aquino was restarted again, his successor, President Duterte, attended its ribbon-cutting ceremony. On February 28, 2017, President
Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order No. 14, reverting CIAC as a subsidiary of the BCDA, but with the
Department of Transportation (DOTr) maintaining supervision and operational control of the airport. During an open bid by the BCDA to take over the operations and maintenance of the airport, the North Luzon Airport Consortium (NLAC), a consortium of
JG Summit Holdings,
Filinvest Development Corporation, Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc. and Changi Airports Philippines Pte. Ltd, won. The terminal that was funded by former President Aquino in 2015 was later finished in 2020. Trial flights to and from the new terminal were conducted in December 2021, and the terminal opened for commercial operations on May 2, 2022. All flights moved to the new terminal on the day of its opening. Following the opening of the new terminal, the old terminal was decommissioned. The new Aquino-funded terminal was officially opened by President
Bongbong Marcos during a grand opening event on September 28. == Geographical location ==