Under contract with the United States Air Force, the French Army began construction of what would become the base in Western Germany's Eifel Mountains in early 1951.

[3] Located in the French occupation zone, construction began on farm land that had been a Wehrmacht tank staging and supply area for the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944.

With the end of the Cold War, it was deemed that Bitburg AB was no longer needed as a military base and it was turned over to the German government on 1 October 1994.

On September 15, 2008, the Ministry of Transport of Rhineland-Palatinate granted the airport contractor landing rights for aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of more than 14 tonnes.

After families were relocated and buildings prepared to be returned in November 2017, the base had a small ceremony to commemorate the end of United States military presence since 1952.