The federal government first drew up plans to build an airport here in the late 1970s to allow easy transport into Warri by air because of its status as an oil city, but the plan languished for over two decades. Meanwhile, people coming in and out of Warri continued to use the old airstrip in a congested part of the city. The airstrip could only accommodate small aircraft on its short runway, so that whenever a plane took off or landed, the authorities had to close off an adjacent road to traffic so that a passing car would not be clipped.

Finding it harder and harder to conduct business with the old airstrip, Shell decided to build one on its own. The airport was commissioned and opened for commercial use on 1 April 1999 with Shell (SPDC) landing a modern Dornier 328 and Aero Contractors 50-passenger Dash aircraft at the Osubi airport. Since the airstrip opened for public use, it is reckoned to be one of the busiest aviation facilities in Nigeria and it is being operated in partnership with other oil companies.

The maintenance and facilities are among the best in the country and traffic flow is one of the highest. In the first six months of the opening of Osubi Airstrip, more than 100,000 passengers passed through just as it handled 3,500 aircraft movements.

The Delta State government is making plans with the airstrip operator Shell to upgrade and build a longer second runway of 3,700 metres (12,100 ft) due to the increase in air traffic.