Yanji Airport was built in 1952 during the Korean War and was initially a small military airport.

In the 1980s, with the opening up of Yanbian Prefecture, the local government hoped to use the Yanji Airport of the Air Force to open civil aviation flights. After the local government's efforts, the State Council and the Central Military Commission approved the use of the Chaoyangchuan Airport of the Air Force for civil aviation to be converted into a joint military-civilian airport on April 12, 1985. On June 2 of the same year, a certain unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture Government officially signed the "Agreement on the Use of Chaoyangchuan Airport of the Air Force by Civil Aviation": the Air Force allowed civil aviation to use the runway free of charge and allocated land to Yanbian to build the waiting hall free of charge; the Civil Aviation Administration of China provided the airport with navigation equipment and professional and technical personnel. The total construction cost amounts to just over 7 million RMB, with the expenses for key facilities — including the terminal building, the civil aviation staff dormitory, and the apron — covered by Yanbian Prefecture.

On July 1, 1985, the Civil Aviation Yanji Station was established. On August 29 of the same year, the An-24 passenger plane made its maiden flight on the Yanji-Shenyang route, thus ending the history of Yanbian having no civil aviation flights. The terminal building of Yanji Airport was built in 1987 and completed in September 1988, covering an area of 2,009 square meters.

In early 1991, in accordance with the requirements of the new situation of development and opening up of the lower reaches of the Tumen River, the airport was expanded and renovated to improve passenger transport and flight support conditions. Yanji Airport needed to be expanded to meet the growing demand.

The Yanji Airport expansion and renovation project had a total investment of 384 million yuan and was divided into two phases. Phase I commenced in May 1993, focusing on the construction of the airfield pavement. The project passed inspection and was put into operation in November of the same year, extending the runway from 2000 meters to 2600 meters. The airport was closed in mid-March, and construction officially started on May 8. It was completed at the end of October of the same year, and the project was officially accepted on November 11. It resumed operation on December 23.

The second phase of the project was the terminal building project, which started in October 1993, primarily involving the construction of a new terminal building. It was completed in April 1997 and put into operation in June 1997. The new terminal building has an area of 16,970 square meters, with 6 aircraft parking positions and 3 jet bridges. After the renovation, the number of airport routes increased from 3 to 9, and the number of airlines increased from 1 to 9.

In August 2000, the first international charter flight from Yanji to Seoul, South Korea took off. Within five years, a total of 2,211 flights departed, carrying 337,000 passengers, with a load factor of over 95%. In 1993, Yanji Airport began applying to become an airport to be designated as an international port of entry.

In June 2003, the State Council issued its approval for the opening of Yanji Airport in Jilin Province. In June 2004, Yanji Airport passed the preliminary acceptance inspection by the provincial inspection team, becoming Jilin Province's second open airport after Changchun Airport. In 2005, Yanji Airport successfully passed the final acceptance inspection, becoming Jilin Province's second international airport after Changchun Airport.

In 2008, the Yanbian Prefecture Government had begun preparations for the relocation of Yanji Airport. The Jilin Provincial Government had sent letters to the Shenyang Military Region Air Force and the Civil Aviation Administration of China to solicit opinions on the relocation and reconstruction of Yanji Airport. The preliminary work for the relocation and reconstruction of Yanji Airport was underway.

In 2011, Yanji Chaoyangchuan Airport's passenger throughput exceeded one million, making it the largest feeder airport in Northeast China. In 2012, the local government agreed to invest in the expansion of the airport. The original terminal building structure was expanded westward by 5,901.84 square meters to serve as the international flight area, and the original terminal building was renovated with a floor area of 15,755 square meters; the aviation refueling station was relocated. The expansion was completed on July 15, 2013, and the domestic renovation was completed on July 30. The international terminal area was put into use on October 13.

In 2014, Yanji Airport broke through the air traffic rights quota restrictions on South Korean routes and opened flights to small and medium-sized cities in South Korea; at the same time, it opened regular routes to Vladivostok, Russia and Pyongyang, North Korea.