The airport was built in the mid-1960s, when the region was part of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet era, it was used only for domestic flights, primarily to transport people from across the Soviet Union to the beaches of Abkhazia. The airport was heavily damaged during the civil war in the early 1990s. Land mines and other explosive remnants of war have been cleared from the airport since by the HALO Trust, the only land mine clearance agency active in Abkhazia at the present time.

In 2006, the government of the Republic of Abkhazia expressed its desire to resume international air traffic in the future; however, the facility is not recognized as an international airport by ICAO, and flights can be allowed only with the permission of the Georgian government.

There is another airport in Abkhazia near Gudauta, which serves Russian military troops located there, and an airstrip in Pskhu.

In July 2019, the leadership of Abkhazia issued a decree to open the "Vladislav Ardzinba Sukhum International Airport" for international flights.

In July 2023, the People's Assembly of Abkhazia ratified an agreement that will allow a Russian investor to reconstruct the airport.

On 7 February 2025, UVT Aero operating a test flight from Vnukovo Airport in Moscow and finally landed at the airport. This led to reopening of scheduled flights, with first commercial flight to Moscow.