In addition to its civil aviation, the runway is shared with the Vietnamese People's Air Force (VPAF, the Không Quân Nhân Dân Việt Nam), although military activities are now extremely limited.

[10][11] Situated on flat, sandy ground on the south side of the major port city of Da Nang, the area was ideal for an airfield, having unobstructed approaches to its north–south runways.

In 1953/54 the French laid a NATO-standard 7,800-foot (2,400 m) asphalt runway at Tourane and stationed loaned American B-26s "Invaders" of the Groupe de Bombardement 1/19 Gascogne.

Tourane Airfield was turned over to civilian use, with the South Vietnamese using facilities at Bien Hoa, Nha Trang and at Tan Son Nhut, near Saigon.

In 1957 the VNAF re-established a presence at the renamed Da Nang Airport, stationing the 1st Liaison Squadron with Cessna L-19s.

Once little more than a provincial airfield, the facility was expanded to 2,350 acres (950 ha) with two 10,000-foot (3,048 m) asphalt runways with concrete touchdown pads.

[17][18] Da Nang International Airport has two 10,000-foot (3,048 m) paved, parallel runways (17–35 orientation) capable of handling large, modern aircraft such as Boeing 747s, 767s and Airbus A320s.

The feasibility study for the renovation of the airport was partially sponsored by the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), and was completed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 2006.