Cesar Basa Air Base (Floridablanca Airfield)

Cesar Basa Air Base, designated as Floridablanca Airfield prior to its naming after Philippine Air Force pilot César Basa, is a military airbase operated by the Philippine Air Force in Floridablanca, Pampanga.

Construction began in November 1941 as Del Carmen Field by the US Army Air Corps 803rd Engineer (Aviation) Battalion. Initial flight operations were conducted by the Far East Air Force 34th Pursuit Squadron using P-35 aircraft. Imperial Japanese forces captured the airfield in December 1941 and used it as an auxiliary base. US forces cleared the area in January 1945, subsequently basing the 312th Bombardment Group operating A-20 Havocs and the 348th Fighter Group operating P-47s and P-51s at the facility, while expanding the site to accommodate B-17 and B-24 bombers.

The United States transferred the facility to the Philippines in 1947. The Philippine Air Force activated the 6th and 7th Fighter Squadrons equipped with P-51D Mustangs at the base later that year, followed by the 8th Fighter Squadron in 1951. Re-designated as the 5th Fighter Wing Headquarters in 1952, the base closed in 1955 to undergo reconstruction into a jet aircraft facility. The base sustained infrastructural damage during the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which damaged grounded F-8 Crusader aircraft. Under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, United States Air Force personnel began rotational deployments to the base in 2016, and a runway rehabilitation project was completed in November 2023.

The base serves as the headquarters for the 5th Fighter Wing and the 355th Aviation Engineering Wing, and houses the 1302nd Dental Dispensary. On-site facilities include the Basa Air Base Hospital, an FA-50PH flight simulator facility, and the Our Lady of Loretto Chapel. The base currently operates SIAI-Marchetti S.211 trainers and FA-50PH Fighting Eagle light fighter aircraft. Historically, the base hosted P-51 Mustangs, F-86F Sabres, T-33 Shooting Stars, F-8 Crusaders, and F-5 Freedom Fighters.