Originally a gravel runway was made in 1951 and in 1954 it was equipped with runway lights. On the 23rd of September 1993, a new lengthened asphalt runway replaced the older gravel runway on the other side of the terminal. The air terminal was originally built in 1968, but was rebuilt and expanded during 1987 to 1999. A new arrivals hall was opened in 2007. During the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption in 2010, many flights were diverted to Egilsstaðir airport due to ATC restrictions because of volcanic ash. The airport is mainly used for domestic flights to Reykjavík, but it also serves medical, emergency, charter and general aviation. There was previously a seasonal route to Copenhagen with Iceland Express in 2007. In late 2016, the UK tour operator Discover the World chartered flights from London-Gatwick and for a few months. The operator later preferred regular tickets to Keflavík Airport for its Iceland package holidays. From May 2023, Egilsstaðir Airport was planned to have scheduled international flights again with Condor, a German holiday-carrier, starting flights to Frankfurt. These plans were cancelled two months before the start of the route, Condor citing weak demand.