The old airport, with its air traffic control tower and a 3,700-metre-long (12,000 ft) precision approach runway (12L-30R), opened in 1994 and was named after the country's first president, Saparmyrat Niyazov.

[5] In 1944, Turkmen SSR air fleet was replenished with the Li-2 aircraft, which transported passengers and mail from Ashkhabad to Moscow via Baku, Astrakhan and Volgograd.

Powerful airliners made it possible to connect Ashkhabad by air lines with the largest cities of the USSR, the capitals of the union republics.

Ashkhabad Airport has modern radio and radar equipment that allows it to receive aircraft at any time of the day and under adverse weather conditions.

[citation needed] As part of Saparmurat Niyazov's aspiration to transform Turkmenistan into 'the new Kuwait', he sought to construct a distinctive airport.

[7][8] The terminal is located on the site of a pre-existing Turkmen SSR airport (behind the bus station) on 2013 Street (Cosmonaut Boulevard).

[10] The Turkmen government let an international tender in 2012 for reconstruction of the airport in Ashgabat, to be named "Oguz Han".

The airport covers 350,000 m2 and includes a passenger terminal, VIP terminal, cargo terminal with capacity to handle 200,000 tonnes of freight per year, a new air traffic control tower (ATCT), a maintenance hangar for three narrow-body aircraft, new fueling stations, catering, fire brigade, flight simulation, repair and maintenance buildings, parking space for 3,000 cars, a civil aviation school as well as a medical center.

The airport has also a second 3,800-meter long runway to serve wide-body, double-deck jet airliners such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8.

[14] Aşgabat International Airport now has two artificial runways, equipped with the second category ILS and platform, enabling them to take aircraft of all types.

Equipped with an automated Elevating Transfer Vehicles (ETV) system, it supports efficient cargo handling, including loading and unloading.

[17][18] The following airlines offer year-round and seasonal scheduled flights to and from Ashgabat as of November 2024:[19][20][21] The airport is located near M37 highway and connect to them as a four-lane motorway.