NAS Cubi Point turned out to be one of the largest earth-moving projects in the world, equivalent to the construction of the Panama Canal.

The $100 million-facility (equivalent to $859 million in 2023) was commissioned on 25 July 1956, and comprised an air station with an adjacent pier capable of docking the Navy's largest carriers.

After decades of use by American forces, Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, burying Cubi Point in 18–36 inches (45–90 cm) of ash.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) was created to manage the facility by virtue of Republic Act No.

Twenty days after the departure of American forces, the airport ushered in its first commercial flight from Taiwan via Makung.

[5] By 2007 the number of recorded passengers had dropped to 17,648, but due to the presence of the FedEx AsiaOne Hub the airport still handled 115,108 flights.

Due to this departure, as well as the planned expansion of nearby Clark International Airport, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Administrator and CEO Armand C. Arreza expressed interest in closing Subic Bay International Airport in favor of converting the area to a logistics hub in January 2010.

In 2016, the airport began to once again be used for daily commercial passenger flights, with Air Juan flying their nine-seater amphibious aircraft to and from their private seaplane base in Manila South Harbor, located north of the CCP Complex.

[10] In July 2021, the airport was used again for repatriation flights of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) which were facilitated by Philippine Airlines.

In 2022, the government established Naval Operating Base Subic, the 100-hectare northern yard of which is occupied by the Philippine Navy.

Subic Bay International Airport hosted a number of wide-bodied aircraft during the seventh APEC Summit in 1996.

The plane was arriving from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport; during the flight there was moderate turbulence and the crew failed to see an error in the airspeed.