Qiqihar Sanjiazi Airport was converted from the original Air Force Sanjiazi Airport, and construction began on April 20, 1985. The airport is a joint military and civilian airport with a 4C flight zone rating with a runway of 2,600 meters long and 45 meters wide, and could accommodate the take-off and landing of Boeing 737-800. It officially opened to traffic on May 16, 1988.

Qiqihar Sanjiazi Airport was approved by the State Council in June 1993 as a national first‑class open port, formally permitting international entry and exit. The airport had a 32,300-square-meter apron, an 8,000-square-meter terminal building (including a 4,000-square-meter international inspection hall), and a 2,600 meters long and 45 meters wide runway with Category I Instrument Landing System capability, capable of accommodating larger passenger aircraft such as the McDonnell Douglas MD-82, Boeing 737, and Airbus A320.

On November 11, 2012, the terminal boarding bridges of Qiqihar Sanjiazi Airport were put into use.

On October 16, 2018, the Heilongjiang Regulatory Bureau completed the industry acceptance of three projects at Qiqihar Sanjiazi Airport: the renovation of the navigation lighting system, the addition of sequential flashing lights, and taxiway guidance signs.

On May 28, 2023, the expansion and renovation project of Qiqihar Sanjiazi Airport commenced construction. The project has a total investment of 780 million yuan and is designed to meet the target of 1.2 million passenger throughput, 2,700 tons of cargo and mail throughput, and 12,600 takeoffs and landings by 2030.

On February 17, 2025, a calibration aircraft from the Civil Aviation Flight Inspection Center of China took off from the east runway of Qiqihar Airport to complete the calibration of the newly built east runway. On June 20, 2025, China Southern Airlines flight CZ5685 landed smoothly, marking the completion of the test flight of the east runway of the Qiqihar Airport expansion and renovation project.

At midnight on January 22, 2026, the newly built terminal building of Qiqihar Sanjiazi Airport, with a total investment of 787 million yuan, was officially put into use, and all inbound and outbound flights were simultaneously transferred to the new terminal. As the first feeder hub airport in Northeast China with a 4C-level dual-runway system, the runways are 3,600 meters long and has 9 Class C aircraft stands.