Early years

Tuzla International was once the largest military airport in the former Yugoslavia. The 350th Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron was active there for a time.

In the early 1990s, still within Yugoslavia and prior start of the Bosnian War, Yugoslav airliner Air Commerce performed commercial flights from Sarajevo and Tuzla to Austria and Switzerland.

It was placed under the control of the United Nations Protection Force in 1992, and from 1996 onwards, it became the main hub for the Implementation Force (IFOR), which was charged with supervising the implementation of the Dayton Agreement. In 1998, Tuzla Canton turned Tuzla International into a civil airport. Tuzla International opened on 10 October 1998 as a civilian airport and military airfield. After the complete international military withdrawal on 1 December 2006, Tuzla International Airport began the implementation of all technical requirements and standards imposed by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Development since the 2000s

Finally, on 5 June 2008, Tuzla International Airport obtained a provisional Certificate for Public Airport Use in international air transportation valid for one year. After general audit implemented by authorized institutions of Civil Aviation in BiH, on 5 June 2009, Tuzla International Airport obtained a Certificate for Public Airport Use in international air transportation with unlimited period of validity.

In June 2015, Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air opened an operating base in Tuzla, by basing one Airbus A320 at the airport. After base opening, total Wizz Air destinations from Tuzla jumped to 9, including 22 weekly departures in the summer flight schedule. 2 June 2016, Turkish Airlines Cargo began operating flights from Tuzla to Istanbul–Atatürk. The Turkish government allocated a quota of 15,000 tons of fresh meat and meat products to import from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Total of 90 flights with Airbus A330 freighter aircraft were planned for 2016. This was the only wide-body aircraft flight operating to and from Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time. On 31 August 2016, Wizz Air announced that it would base its second aircraft at Tuzla Airport as of 27 March 2017. From March 2017, the airline started operating five new services from Tuzla to Cologne/Bonn, Friedrichshafen, and Nuremberg in Germany, Bratislava in Slovakia and Växjö in Sweden. Wizz Air also announced its newest route connecting Tuzla with London–Luton in the United Kingdom beginning 30 October, Billund in Denmark beginning 31 October, and Berlin–Schönefeld beginning 17 December. Total number of weekly flights increased to 43 round trip flights, serving 16 destinations in 7 countries. On 2 November 2016, Tuzla International Airport announced the start of terminal expansion and reconstruction. Capacity of the new building was projected to host 700.000 passengers per year. The reconstruction was finished in May 2019. In November 2017, Wizz Air stopped flying to London-Luton, Nuremberg and Bratislava. 2017 was the record year for Tuzla Airport since it opened its doors, passing half a million passengers for the first time ever. In June 2018, Wizz Air started operating flights from Tuzla to Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden in Germany. In May 2021, Ryanair planned to launch two routes from Tuzla to Weeze and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden with potential future routes to Stockholm, London-Stansted, Malta and Memmingen. However, the government did not approve the flights. On 12 August 2021, Wizz Air announced that it would base its third base aircraft in Tuzla and open two new routes to Milan-Malpensa and Nuremberg in December 2021. In 2023, Wizz Air announced that it would close its base and lower its operation in Tuzla.

In 18 December 2023, the Greek carrier Lumiwings launched a base in Tuzla, with flights to Esbjerg, Halmstad, Maastricht, Saarbrucken and Stockholm Skavsta. Istanbul was also scheduled to be launched on 5 March, but Lumiwings later cancelled the launch and discontinued Stockholm Skavsta flights amidst poor loads before fully discontinuing the base on 27 February.

On 11 July 2024, Turkish low cost carrier Pegasus Airlines announced a new once-weekly scheduled service from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport from 24 August 2024.

On 12 December 2025, Wizz Air reopened base at Tuzla International Airport, with two Airbus A321neo aircraft stationed at the airport. The airline started flights from Tuzla to Cyprus, Germany, France, Netherlands and Sweden.