The airport was established on the former RAF Khormaksar, which opened in 1917 during Aden Province era and closed as an RAF station in 1967 following the Aden Emergency and independence of South Yemen. It later served as a Soviet Naval Aviation station during the 1970s and 1980s, being visited by aircraft of the 77th independent Long-Range Anti-Submarine Aviation Regiment (Soviet Pacific Fleet) and the 145th independent Long-Range Anti-Submarine Aviation Squadron (Baltic Fleet), flying Ilyushin Il-38s (ASCC "May"). From 1971 until 1996 it was also the main hub of Alyemda Yemen Democratic Airlines. It is the second-largest airport in Yemen after Sanaa International Airport. The new terminal was built between 1983 and 1985, with a capacity of one million passengers a year. A major reconstruction and expansion of Aden International was completed in 2001, including a new runway that can handle large, long-haul aircraft. In 2000 the constructions at the new control tower and airport department building were completed. Plans to make that airport a regional cargo hub, with an "air cargo village" by 2004 appear to have failed. Although construction began in January 2003, by the end of the year the managing company had dissolved. During the Yemeni civil war in the aftermath of the Houthi takeover in Yemen, the city of Aden including its airport became a battleground. The Battle of Aden Airport took place on 19 March 2015, with Houthi forces mounting an attack on the airport that was repelled by forces loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Operations were suspended for months, owing to bombing by the Saudi Air Force in Operation Decisive Storm. On 22 July 2015, the airport was declared fit for operation again, as a Saudi plane carrying aid reportedly became the first plane to land in Aden in four months. Two days later two more Saudi planes landed carrying the equipment needed to resume operations, to enable aid to be delivered to the embattled country. On 26 November 2015, the airport re-opened briefly for civilian air traffic after having been closed for 10 months, with a Yemenia flight arriving from Amman-Queen Alia international Airport in Jordan. Service for the next three months was sporadic, but at the end of February 2016 it was reported that the airport would reopen for ordinary commercial service after a few weeks of repairs. The blockade was reinstated on 21 February 2016 and lifted on 14 November 2017, when the first commercial flight landed at Aden International Airport. Flights were cancelled once again, for four days (28-31 January 2018), but resumed on 1 February 2018. On 7 January 2026, Yemeni government forces secured full control over the airport after capturing the city from the separatist Southern Transitional Council.