Any foreign military aircraft that was interned by Switzerland was held at Dübendorf, including about 120 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers, together with one Luftwaffe Me 262 jet fighter.

In 1948, civil aviation moved to the newly opened Zurich Airport and Dübendorf became a purely military airfield.

Dübendorf had been considered for expansion as Switzerland's primary international airport, but the Federal government reportedly preferred the development of a new Zurich airport for dedicated civil use for technical reasons including the difficulties inherent in a shared military and civil facility.

[5] During the Cold War, Dübendorf was the home of Aérospatiale Alouette II and Alouette III helicopters and jets such as the de Havilland Vampire, de Havilland Venom, Hawker Hunter, Dassault Mirage III and Northrop F-5 Tiger II while it was not a war base.

On 26 June 2009, the long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse 1 was first presented to the public at Dübendorf Air Base.

Under supervision of the Swiss Air Force, Dübendorf is also used by friendly nations in the context of exercises or joint missions (e.g. Austrian C-130 or German CH-53).

[21] One part of the property will be used to build a so-called Innovationspark (factory, office rooms and apartments for start up enterprises).