[3] Numerous flights followed, including John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, the United States's 5th licensed pilot, in 1911, Phillips Page in 1912, and Ruth Law in 1913.

Phillips Page has been credited for taking the first aerial photographs in Florida, while flying around the Hotel Clarendon in Daytona Beach.

Eastern Air Transport was the first airline at Daytona Beach, certified to fly mail to Tampa and Orlando.

[3] In late 1930 a 740-acre (299 ha) piece of land turned into the current airport, a few hundred feet from the main drag of Volusia Avenue (now International Speedway Blvd.)

[citation needed] When World War II broke out the US Navy took over and used the airport for training, calling it Naval Air Station Daytona Beach.

At the end of the war, NAS Daytona Beach was decommissioned and the auxiliary airfields were returned to the respective local governments for civil use as airports.

Jet flights began in December 1967 with Eastern operating Boeing 727s on a round trip routing of Miami (MIA) - Melbourne (MLB) - Daytona Beach (DAB) - Baltimore (BAL) - New York Kennedy (JFK).

Also in 1967, National was serving the airport with Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops with nonstop flights to Jacksonville and Orlando as well as direct, no change of plane service to Boston, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, Miami, Tampa and West Palm Beach.

This same OAG also lists flights operated by National Airlines with Boeing 727-100 and 727-200 jetliners nonstop from Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando with direct one stop service from New York, Newark and Tampa.

[7] By the mid-1980s, a midfield control tower had been completed and the airport was being served by Eastern, Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines.

American ended service to Daytona Beach in 1994 as its Raleigh–Durham hub was shut down but then returned to the airport following its merger with US Airways in 2015.

According to the September 15, 1994 edition of the OAG, three airlines were operating mainline jet service into the airport: Delta, Continental, and USAir.

There was also commuter propjet flights at this time from the airport nonstop to Miami flown by Gulfstream International Airlines with Beechcraft 1900 turboprops as well as nonstop service to Orlando operated by Delta Connection and USAir Express with Beechcraft 1900, Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia and Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprops.

[10] The only other scheduled direct flights out of the country from the airport were later operated to the Bahamas with small Beechcraft twin turboprops flown by Vintage Props and Jets, a commuter airline.

[12][13] On January 17, 2019, Silver Airways began nonstop daily service to Fort Lauderdale Airport with SAAB 340.

[15] These flights ended on July 1, 2019, due to a fare level that is financially sustainable to continue in current market conditions.

[1][17] In the year ending September 30, 2021 the airport had 364,071 aircraft operations, an average of 997 per day: 62% general aviation, 36% air taxi, 2% airline and <1% military.