In the early part of the 20th century, the area currently occupied by Bel-Air Village was part of the former Nielson Airport in Nielson Field, Rizal Province, Luzon. At the time, this airport was the only commercial flight server in Manila. The runways of Nielsen Airport were wide and macadamized roads that are now the major thoroughfares known as Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas. Philippine Airlines, which was then owned by Don Andres Soriano, Sr., operated domestic flights from Manila to Baguio and Paracale, with 9-passenger twin engine planes flown by American pilots.