The development of civil aviation in the northern region of Moldova continued after 1944, when two Polikarpov Po-2 landed at the former Bălți military airfield in Singureni, followed by a Yakovlev Yak-12 from Chișinău The planes belonged to the Moldovan branch of Aeroflot.

For these reasons it was decided to create a civilian airport within Bălți, in particular for the convenience of servicing domestic flights with light aircraft.

[4] In September 1969, the Bălți Combined Aviation Unit Russian: Бельцкий ОАО – Объединённый Авиационный Отряд was formed.

At the Bender (Tighina) airfield was based a civil squadron of Bălți Flight Unit No 281, consisting of 2–3 Antonov An-2 aircraft and 1–2 Mil Mi-1 helicopters.

[2] The airport had an area of 136.49 hectares and was managed by Moldaeroservice, a company established by the Ministry of Transportation and Road Infrastructure.

Towards the end of the 1980s, passenger traffic at Bălți-City Airport began to decrease due to the appearance of land-based bus services on the new built roads of the Moldavian SSR and an increase in long-distance flights by jet aircraft – then, in 1987, the construction of a new runway capable of handling Tupolev Tu-134, Tupolev Tu-154 and Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft was completed.

Until 2010 Bălți-City Airport together with helicopter helipads was used to serve the population, agriculture, as well as for irregular and short flights between the regions of the Republic of Moldova.

To date, Bălți Free Economic Zone has not fulfilled its obligation to build immovable facilities at Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport.

In accordance with the feasibility study established by the Ministry of Economy in 2011, the real estate assets obtained by Bălți FEZ from Bălți-City Airport were meant for the creation of an industrial park and a business incubator.

[8][9] Today, despite the provisions of the feasibility study, including several buildings and recreational complexes have been built on the land of former Bălți-City Airport which was transferred to the Bălți Free Economic Zone.

281 (281-й ЛО (Бельцы) – Лётный Отряд) was subordinated to the Civil Aviation Directorate of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Молдавское УГА – Управление Гражданской Авиациии).

Among the heads of the airport's technical services base were Grigore Rotari, Boris Cabac, Victor Gherta.

The airport and ground service was headed by Petru Lobanov, Rașid Biriucov, Dmitrie Gubarev, Vasile Barabaș.

In 1989 the concrete runway was put into operation at the newly built Bălți-Leadoveni International Airport (also managed by Moldaeroservice), thanks to which the passengers from the northern region of the Republic of Moldova gained the possibility of air travel to 14 cities of the former USSR with aircraft of the type Antonov An-24, Tupolev Tu-134, Let L-410 Turbolet until 1993.

In the late 1980s, Bălți-City Airport, with its airfield and heliport, served mainly domestic traffic between Bălți and the northern rajons of Moldova, mostly in agriculture and for public service needs.