1928–1945

Koltsovo's original aerodrome was constructed between 1928 and 1930 at the behest of the Air Force Institute of the USSR. It was primarily built as a military aerodrome. In 1932, the 33rd air division, formerly belonging to the Privolzhsky Military District, was transferred to the Koltsovo aerodrome; the division was later redirected to the border with Finland during the Winter War. After Nazi Germany declared war on the USSR, entangling the Soviet Union into World War II, construction of a 1 km runway was announced. Construction began the next day and the runway was completed in three months, a record breaking time for the 1940s.

On 15 May 1942, USSR's first jet engine plane, the BI-1, completed its maiden flight from Koltsovo airport. The new aircraft was manually operated by Grigory Bakhchivadzhi. Six experimental flights were conducted on the BI-1, until, on the 7th flight, during maximum speed testing, the pilot lost control of the trajectory of the plane and crashed, resulting in Bakhchivadzhi's death. A 1:1 scale replica of the BI-1 jet plane was recreated in the front square of the airport in honour of the BI-1 and Grigory. The monument still stands.

On 10 July 1943, the airport gained domestic status. This made Koltsovo the first airport in the USSR to have civil and military status at once. Flights from Yekaterinburg to Moscow were conducted on a daily basis. In December 1943, on the way back from Tehran, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stayed overnight at the Koltsovo airport. During World War II the airport acted as a joint in the classified route between Fairbanks, Alaska and Moscow, Russia, in which C-47 aircraft were imported into the USSR. By January 1944, Koltsovo owned four aircraft, granted by the USSR Ministry of Civil Aviation for the purpose of domestic flights: two LI-2 and two Junkers. After the surrender of Nazi Germany, Koltsovo was used as joint for the relocation of military aircraft to the Pacific Front for the combating of the Japanese Empire. Between 1943 and 1945, despite the extremely high traffic rates for an airport of such size, no airplane crashes were recorded.

1945–1991

In 1951, the airfield underwent a reconstruction. In the early 1950s, flights from Moscow to Beijing, China, made a layover in Koltsovo. The route from Koltsovo to Beijing was also the airport's first international flight. In 1954, a new terminal completed construction. The Russian Imperial-Modern style and the large spire made this terminal a prominent symbol of Yekaterinburg and all of Sverdlovsk. In 1956 all runways were extended and reinforced with concrete flooring. This allowed for larger aircraft such as the Tu-104 and IL-18 to dock at Koltsovo. In 1958, a hotel with 100 rooms was built 800m from the terminal. The hotel went bankrupt in 1961 and was the demolished the preceding year.

In 1963, a new 3-star "Liner" hotel with 235 rooms completed construction. On 1 January 1967, a new terminal complex was exploited for domestic flights. This terminal was twice as large as the original terminal and had a passenger traffic limit of 1,500,000 passengers and could support 700 pax/hour. The terminal was placed to the right of the original terminal; today, the new Terminal A and B stand where the 1967 terminal stood.

In 1983, an arrival terminal was built. On 6 March 1987, a second runway completed construction and was exploited. In 1991, due to the dissolution of the USSR, the Sverdlovsk united air group of the Ural Civil Airports Office was reformed to the First Sverdlovsk Airline. In October 1993, Koltsovo was granted international status. On 28 December 1993, as a result of the division and privatization of the First Sverdlovsk Air, two joint-stock companies were set up: OJSC (now JSC) "Airport Koltsovo" and JSC "Ural Airlines". Later JSC Koltsovo Airport was renamed to JSC "Koltsovo Invest", Koltsovo's current owner company.

2003–present

In 2003, an implement of the airport development as a hub Program was started with the support of Russian Federation Ministry of Transport, Sverdlovsk Oblast Government and the Renova Group. Investment into the Koltsovo large scale reconstruction of 2003–2009 years estimated about 12,000,000,000 rubles: private investments totaled 8,000,000,000 rubles (to the air-terminal complex development and technical re-equipment of services), state investments totaled 4,000,000,000 rubles (to rebuild aerodrome pavement and control tower building). In 2005, a new international terminal for Yekaterinburg finished construction and was exploited for proper use. The same year Yekaterinburg established new borders of the city, resulting in Koltsovo village, where the airport was located, in becoming part of Yekaterinburg's municipal district. A new catering facility was also implemented in 2005, as well as the international terminal.

In 2006, the original Koltsovo terminal was converted to a business terminal and underwent a complete renovation. The preceding year, the domestic terminal adjacent to the international terminal completed construction. In 2008, an aeroexpress railway station from the center of Yekaterinburg to Koltsovo finished building.