Forlì International Airport was originally Luigi Ridolfi Airport, and dedicated by Benito Mussolini before WWII. Mussolini was born in the nearby town of Predappio.

On 29 March 2013, the airport was closed due to the lack of Jet-A fuel per Notam B1624/13. The management company, SEAF S.p.A., was declared bankrupt. A tender was issued by ENAC, the aviation administration, to operate the airport. The submissions were reviewed by local, regional, and pan-EU government representatives, as well as Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Maurizio Lupi. Support was put forth unanimously from government for a submission by Aviacom S.r.L., Robert L Halcombe Administrator, Lotras S.p.A., and Siem S.r.L. forming Air Romagna S.p.A.

The thirty-year concession was awarded on September 28, 2014, to Air Romagna S.p.A. Under the new administration, in 2016 the primary focus was to restructure general aviation operations and in 2017 to bring charter traffic and scheduled airlines. The target commercial passenger area of influence was to be Northern Europe and Scandinavia, major cities west in the European Union, and east to the Russian Federation. Then, through alliances, the intent was to connect with North American markets.

Forlì Airport was formerly used by Wizz Air, but the airline canceled all flights to Forlì. Wind Jet moved to the nearby Rimini Airport on 27 March 2011, and thereafter quit the latter too, filing for administration shortly after. Ryanair used to fly from Forlì to a number of European cities such as London-Stansted and Frankfurt-Hahn until it moved to the nearby Bologna Airport.