Early years

The airport traces its origins to the British Raj. The city government decided that Faisalabad had a strategic position within the South Asia and the British Empire. In 1942, the local government gave permission for the construction of a bricked strip measuring 5000' by 100'. Regional aircraft used the strip, and it played a role in the fighting and evacuation during the struggle for independence.

It was originally known as Lyallpur Airfield and had been known as such until 1979 when the city was renamed as Faisalabad, in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It was henceforth renamed to Faisalabad Airport; the International Air Transport Association code remained LYP.

After independence

The national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) began domestic operations in 1958 operating several flights from Karachi. The majority of the flights contained cargo for export. In 1965, the bricked airstrip was re-built to meet standards at that time. The surface was built using bitumen and the length of the runway increased to 9000' by 100' to allow the airport to handle larger aircraft. During 1966–1967 construction began for a terminal and apron to handle propeller aircraft such as the Fokker F-27 Friendship.

In 1972 a new parallel runway with dimensions 9000 feet by 100 feet was constructed west of the existing runway, since the existing runway had deteriorated quite significantly. The new runway was designed to handle jet fuelled aircraft such as the Boeing 737. In 1974 a jet apron, Taxiway-B, Air Traffic Control tower and Met office were constructed. A premium lounge and Instrument Landing System (ILS) were installed in 1985. In 1986 the terminal building was extended to accommodate greater number of passengers. In 1991, the old runway was widened, strengthened and extended reaching dimensions of 9270' by 150' with surface bitumen to accommodate Airbus aircraft such as Airbus A310s. In 1993, a business class CIP Lounge was constructed and the terminal building was extended. In 1998, direct Hajj operations were started from the airport to Saudi Arabia.

On 20 December 2003, Aero Asia International launched twice a week operations from LYP to Dubai and increased its Karachi flights to thrice a week. In 2005, PIA launched direct flights from the capital city of Scotland, Glasgow to LYP with Airbus A310 aircraft. The airline also launched e-ticketing from the airport in December of the same year. In December 2007, PIA operated its first Hajj flight from the city. In 2008, PIA began to operate flights from LYP to Sialkot International Airport, but this was soon axed. However, flights to Dubai were added. In 2009, PIA launched services from LYP to Rahim Yar Khan and Abu Dhabi. In 2010, PIA connected Bahawalpur to the city. In 2011, Shaheen Air was given approval to operate seasonal Hajj flights from Faisalabad to Jeddah. In the same year, Etihad Airways launched coach services for passengers based in Faisalabad to Lahore Airport. In 2012, Shaheen Air upgraded its Hajj flights to Boeing 767s. In June 2013, PIA ended its services to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Multan due to non-availability of aircraft. Shaheen Air decided to launch operations in October of the same year to Dubai. In 2014, Air Indus launched its services to Karachi using Boeing 737-300s.

Expansion plans

On 22 February 2015, Shujaat Azeem, aviation advisor to the Prime Minister, announced on his X (formerly Twitter) page that LYP would be upgraded to international standards and more international flights would soon be launched from the city. On 5 March 2015 Qatar Airways announced its thrice a week service linking Doha to Faisalabad. The service would be operated by Airbus A321/A320 aircraft. On 9 April 2015, the airport was inspected by Shujaat Azeem, Air Marshal (Retd) Muhammad Yousaf (Director General of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority), Engineer Rizwan Ashraf (President of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industries) and Rana Mohammad Afzal Khan (Member of Parliament, MNA). It was announced that the airport will be upgraded to meet international standards of the IATA/ICAO. It was disclosed by the PCAA that the airport will undergo the following work:

Extension of the current passenger terminal

Construction of a new cargo complex

Extension & upgrading of the current runway to handle larger aircraft

Construction of a new taxiway.

Renovation of the aircraft stands (apron)

Renovation of the arrivals/departure/business class lounges.

Renovation of the airport approach road (including LED lighting)

On 1 June 2015 Air Arabia announced that it will operate thrice a week service from Sharjah and Faisalabad from 18 September 2015. Faisalabad will become the eighth city to which Air Arabia operate in Pakistan. On 15 June 2015, Flydubai announced daily flights to Faisalabad from 10 July 2015 with an increase to nine a week from 3 August. On 11 July 2015, Gerry's dnata and Royal Airport Services set up their ground handling services from the airport. On 20 August 2015, Shaheen Air launched Hajj flights to Medina using Airbus A320.