The airfield was established between 1940 and 1941 and was initially part of the Nyköping garrison. Named Nyköping-Oxelösund Airport (Nyköping-Oxelösunds flygplats) It was primarily used by Södermanland Wing (F11) until the wing was decommissioned on 30 June 1980, although some military activities continued in the area until 1985. In November 1983, an agreement was reached between the state and Nyköping Municipality regarding the future of the airport. In September 1984, the airport was inaugurated as a civil airport under the management of the municipality. In 1987 the terminal building was inaugurated. The following year, the airport was renamed Stockholm Skavsta Airport (Stockholm Skavsta flygplats) to facilitate marketing and booking systems linked to Stockholm. In 1995, charter services started operating from Skavsta, with flights to Turkey introducing duty-free sales at the airport. The growth of charter operators continued throughout the 1990s, with operators such as Ving, Always, Spies, and Fritidsresor establishing routes from Skavsta. In June 1997, Ryanair launched its first flight from Stockholm Skavsta to London Stansted Airport. This move marked the entry of low-cost carriers into the Swedish market. Before Ryanair's arrival, the lowest round-trip fare from Stockholm to London was approximately 2,065 SEK with Malmö Aviation, while Ryanair's fare from Skavsta was approximately 990 SEK. In 1998, Nyköping Municipality sold 90.1% of the ownership of Stockholm Skavsta Airport to the British airport operating company TBI Limited, with the municipality retaining a 9.9% stake. This sale was part of TBI's strategy to acquire and manage several airports, which included London Luton Airport, Belfast International Airport, and Orlando Sanford International Airport. In April 2003, Ryanair established its first Scandinavian base at Stockholm Skavsta Airport. The airline stationed three Boeing 737-800 aircraft there, and expanded its route network to destinations across Europe including Glasgow, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Paris, Oslo, Aarhus and Tampere. In July 2004, Wizz Air began operations at Skavsta, with flights to destinations in Eastern Europe including Warsaw and Budapest. In early 2005, the Spanish ACDL group acquired TBI Limited, which owned and managed the airport. This ownership structure remained in place until 2013, when most of ACDL's airport assets, including Skavsta, were sold to the Canadian pension fund OMERS Strategic Investments. In October 2007, Ryanair launched six new routes from Stockholm Skavsta Airport. The newly introduced destinations included Baden-Baden, Basel, Berlin, Bratislava, Pisa, and Valencia. This expansion was facilitated by the addition of Boeing 737-800 aircraft, bringing the total number of Ryanair aircraft based at Skavsta to six. Ryanair estimated that approximately 2.5 million passengers would use these new routes. Skavsta's passenger numbers peaked in 2011, with 2,581,639 passengers using the airport. In August 2018, the French company VINCI Airports, which operated 46 airports worldwide at the time, took over the majority 90.1% share of the airport. Between 2018 and 2020 Skavsta was Sweden's third busiest airport. The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on Stockholm Skavsta Airport, pushing it to the brink of bankruptcy. The airport experienced a drastic reduction in passenger traffic, with January 2021 seeing approximately 85% fewer passengers compared to the same month in 2020. In March 2020 the airport furloughed around 120 employees, as flight traffic came to a near standstill with only a handful of departures per week. In May 2021, Ryanair announced it would relocate all routes from Skavsta to Stockholm Arlanda Airport by October 2021. After initially claiming the option to leave some operations from Skavsta, Ryanair left the airport entirely on 30 October 2021.