[3] The airport is named after I Gusti Ngurah Rai, a Balinese hero who died on 20 November 1946 in a puputan (fight to the death) against the Dutch at Marga in Tabanan, where the Dutch defeated his company with air support, killing Ngurah Rai and 95 others during the Indonesian National Revolution in 1946.

The airport was originally built as a simple 700 m long airstrip by the Dutch Colonial administration's Voor Verkeer en Waterstaats public works office.

The northern end lay in the Tuban village graveyard and in the south it occupied previously vacant land.

[6] A poorly motivated garrison of 600 Dutch-led Balinese militia deserted almost immediately as the Japanese invaded the island.

In the five years from 1942 to 1947 the length of the runway was extended to 1,200 m from the original 700 m.[6] Many Balinese identified the Japanese invaders as being potential liberators from the Dutch colonial authorities who were unpopular on the island.

There was never a significant Japanese fighter squadron stationed in Denpasar although it was within the field of tactical air operations conducted from both Surabaya and Allied airbases in northern Australia.

More so the taking of Tuban airfield and the island of Bali deprived the allied forces of a fighter staging field en route from Australia to defend Java.

In 1949 a terminal building and other aviation facilities were constructed and a simple wooden flight control tower was erected.

Land reclamation to project the runway and the two overruns by 1,500 m was achieved by taking material from the limestone rocks at Ungasan and sand from the river Antosari–Tabanan.

With the completion of the temporary terminal and runway project at the Tuban Airport, the government inaugurated international air service on 10 August 1966.

The name came from I Gusti Ngurah Rai who was a significant national republican figure during the struggle for independence in Indonesia.

26 of 1980, the management of Ngurah Rai International Airport was passed over from the Directorate of Air Transport to Perum Angkasa Pura.

Commencing 1 October 1989 until 31 August 1992 further major airport improvement works were undertaken including a landing strip extension to 3,000 m, taxiway relocations, apron expansion, passenger and cargo building expansions and the further development of air navigational and aircraft fueling facilities.

[10] There have been several plans made seeking a solution to the expansion problems at Ngurah Rai International airport.

The new international terminal opened in November 2013, while the domestic terminal opened on 17 September 2014 with an area of 65,800 square metres (708,000 sq ft), eight departure and seven arrival gates, five passenger boarding bridges, five conveyor belts, as well as more counters — 62 for check-in, 4 for transit and 19 for ticketing.

[17] The master plan was originally proposed prior to the tourism downturn in Bali following the two bombing incidents.

Since these proposals were originally made the tourism sector has experienced a gradual recovery and a new international airport has been built on the nearby island of Lombok to the east of Bali.

It is anticipated that some of the requirement for expansion of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport will be mitigated with the opening of the new facility in Lombok.

It is projected that subsequent to these plans being completed Ngurah Rai International Airport will be able to accommodate up to 25 million passengers per annum.

Lengthening the existing runway was not possible either due to the densely populated areas adjacent to the airport, or environmental concerns regarding land reclamation.

[23] On 1 June 2023, an Emirates Airbus A380 flight landed at Ngurah Rai, marking the first time an A380 served a scheduled commercial service in Indonesia.

[24][25] Ngurah Rai International Airport is connected by highway via Bali Mandara Toll Road to Denpasar and Nusa Dua.