Situated on flat, sandy ground on the south side of the major port city of Da Nang, the area was ideal for an airfield, having unobstructed approaches to its north–south runways. Tourane Airport was built by the French colonial government in the 1940s as a civilian airport. During World War II, and the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force used it as a military air base. After the war, the facility was used by the French Air Force during the French Indochina War (1945–1954). In 1953/54 the French laid a NATO-standard 7,800-foot (2,400 m) asphalt runway at Tourane and stationed loaned American B-26s "Invaders" of the Groupe de Bombardement 1/19 Gascogne. In 1954 after the Geneva Peace Accords, these B-26s were returned to the United States. In 1955, the newly established Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) inherited from the French a token force of fifty-eight aircraft. These included a few squadrons of Cessna L-19 observation aircraft, C-47 transports and various utility aircraft. Tourane Airfield was turned over to civilian use, with the South Vietnamese using facilities at Bien Hoa, Nha Trang and at Tan Son Nhut, near Saigon. In 1957 the VNAF re-established a presence at the renamed Da Nang Airport, stationing the 1st Liaison Squadron with Cessna L-19s. The South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) also used Da Nang as a ranger training facility. Air Vietnam also used the facility from 1951 to 1975 for civilian domestic and international flights within Southeast Asia. During the Vietnam War (1959–1975), the facility was known as Da Nang Air Base, and was a major United States military base. Once little more than a provincial airfield, the facility was expanded to 2,350 acres (950 ha) with two 10,000-foot (3,048 m) asphalt runways with concrete touchdown pads, parallel taxiways, and a heliport. During the war the VNAF's 1st Air Division, and the USAF's 23d Air Base Group, 6252nd Tactical Wing, 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing, 362nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron, and the U.S. Navy (a detachment of VQ-1) operated from the base. The Vietnam-US joint project to clean dioxin pollution was completed in 2018. The airport had previously seen high concentrations of dioxin in soil and sediment samples from the airport following the handling of Agent Orange and other herbicides during the Vietnam War. According to the regulation of the Ministry of Transport issued on 27 July 2020, the airport was temporarily closed from 28 July to 7 September to prevent an outbreak in the city.