Albrook Air Force Station Albrook Air Force Station is a former United States Air Force facility in Panama . It was closed on 30 September 1997 as a result of the Torrijos - Carter Treaties which specified that United States military facilities in the former Panama Canal Zone be closed and the facilities be turned over to the Panamanian government . It was located on the east side of the Panama Canal just south of Fort Clayton and north of the township of Balboa , Panama . Beginning in January 1999 , the air field initiated civilian air service as Albrook " Marcos A . Gelabert " International Airport . History . After World War I , it became apparent to military planners that air power , especially naval air power , constituted a serious threat to the safety of the Panama Canal . The one existing airfield ( France Field ) was too small , had a poor landing surface , offered no room for expansion , and provided little defense for the Pacific entrance to the Canal . Construction for an air base at Albrook Field was authorized by Congress in 1928 , and $ 1 . 9 million was appropriated . Actual construction began in 1930 and most was completed in 1932 . Albrook Army Airfield was commissioned in April 1932 as an active air field . The original construction program at Albrook left out several buildings necessary for efficient flight operations , including a headquarters building . As money could be secured throughout the 1930s , seven buildings were added to the base . In addition , the runways were unsuitable for all - weather flying and had to be improved . By the mid - 1930s , advances in naval aviation ( primarily aircraft carriers ) and increasingly long - range bombers had again made plain the inadequacies of Canal air defense . Plans to significantly expand Air Corps strength had been around since 1934 , essentially proposing a system of outlying bases supported by pursuit and bombardment aircraft . It was 1939 , however , before these plans began to be realized . Congressional authorization and $ 50 million in funding were forthcoming that year for improving Canal defenses . Since a large part of the expansion program was a vast increase in manpower , much of the new construction involved housing at existing bases . In addition , a new airfield ( Howard Field ) was authorized for the west bank of the Pacific entrance to the Canal . The majority of the expansion program construction was completed by early 1942 . After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the number of troops in Panama was sharply increased . The newly established Caribbean Defense Command carried out its mission of Canal defense through a widespread net of naval and air reconnaissance , with the greatest threat coming from German U - boats . By April 1943 , the threat to the Canal was diminishing , defense status was downgraded , and a reduction in troop strength began . Albrook Field became Albrook Air Force Base on March 26 , 1948 , by the Department of the Air Force General Order Number 10 . AAFES operated an " Albrook Mall " in various buildings that was one of the primary shopping areas available to US troops stationed there ( not just Air Force ) . In 1966 , elements of the famed 4080th SRW , home of the Lockheed U2 aircraft performed atmospheric sampling as the French detonated a nuclear device in the South Pacific . In 1975 the facility was downgraded to Albrook Air Force Station when the control tower was closed and Air Force aircraft and units moved to Howard Air Force Base . The airstrip and adjacent hangars and buildings ( Albrook Army Airfield ) was transferred to the government of Panama on October 1 , 1979 , along with the adjacent the PAD ( Panama Air Depot ) Area . The base saw action again during the 1989 United States invasion of Panama , including an extended firefight at its front gate . The station was turned over to the Government of Panama on 30 September 1997 as a result of the Torrijos - Carter Treaties and was subsequently closed as a military facility . Post USAF use . After the base was turned over to Panama and the domestic / commercial Albrook " Marcos A . Gelabert " International Airport was relocated to Albrook from Punta Paitilla ( across Panama City ) in January 1999 after refurbishing the former Air Force Base and constructing an operations / control tower and a passenger terminal ( near Building 446 , the hangar that previously housed the former Air Force Post Office ) . Airport is under Panama ' s Civil Aeronautics Authority ( " Autoridad de Aeronáutica Civil " — previously named Civil Aviation Directorate ) . A number of shops , markets and government agencies ( Panamanian Red Cross , International Maritime University of Panama ) operate out of some of the old buildings and hangars , and most of the officers quarters are now private homes . The Civil Aviation Authority has its headquarters in Building 805 .