The construction of the airport was approved in April 1950 and was expected to be completed within a year. The airport, which occupies 141 acres (0.57 km2) of land, was completed in August 1952 at a cost of $500,000. The first plane landed at the airport the following month. The Dakota aircraft of Malayan Airways arrived at the airport four times a week. The airport and particularly its control tower bears historical significance as it was the same tower which guided the plane of Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, to land from London on 20 February 1956. It was in Malacca that Tunku announced the date for the independence of then Malaya from the United Kingdom. Considering the historical nature of this control tower, the Chief Minister of Malacca, Mohd Ali Rustam has attemptwd to save the tower, by either relocating it, or by changing plans to incorporate the tower. Between 2008 and 2014, the airport was served by Sky Aviation which operated flights from Pekanbaru five times per week. Flights ceased in 2014 when Sky Aviation suspended all operations. Malaysian airline Malindo Air launched four-weekly flights from the Malacca Airport to Penang, Malaysia, and Pekanbaru, Indonesia, on 4 November 2014. In 2016, Indonesian airline XpressAir launched four-weekly flights from Malacca Airport to Pekanbaru, Indonesia, on 29 April 2016. China Southern Airlines launched an inaugural charter flight from Malacca Airport to Guangzhou, China, on 29 September 2016. By the end of 2016, China Southern Airlines stopped charter flights to Malacca. The airport is also used as the base of the Malaysian Flying Academy (MFA), which has been operating out of the airport since 1987. AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said he had discussed with Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai in Putrajaya on 29 June 2016 for the potential of turning the Malacca Airport into a low-cost terminal. Fernandes said AirAsia wanted to use the Malacca Airport but had been unable to convince MAHB to allow AirAsia to use the airport. AirAsia marked the arrival of its inaugural flight from Penang to Malacca on 1 July 2019. In September 2023, all commercial operations had ceased, with airlines citing lack of demand and high operational costs. The state government was subsequently offering incentives in order to woo back airlines to use the airport, yet to date to no avail. During this time, Malacca Airport served only private jets, with the entire airport running with just 39 staff on duty each day. In October 2024, Malacca Airport had reopened, as Scoot began almost daily flights from Singapore.