The Melville Hall area was chosen as the site for Dominica's main airport in 1944, for it was the only place on the island with extensive flat land.

[6] Three airlines were operating scheduled passenger service with turboprop aircraft into the airport in late 1979 including Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) with Hawker Siddeley HS 748 flights nonstop from Antigua, Fort de France, Pointe a Pitre and St. Lucia as well as direct, no change of plane HS 748 flights from Barbados, Grenada, Port of Spain and St. Vincent; Air Martinique with nonstop Fokker F27 service from Fort de France; and Air Guadeloupe with nonstop de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter service from Pointe a Pitre.

[8] The OAG also lists scheduled passenger service at this same time flown by LIAT into the airport with de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprops nonstop from Antigua, Fort de France, Pointe a Pitre, and St. Maarten as well as direct, no change of plane Dash 8 flights from Anguilla, Port of Spain, St. Lucia, San Juan, PR and Tortola.

[13] On 22 July 2021, American Airlines announced a new, twice-weekly nonstop jet service between Miami and Dominica, which began on 8 December 2021.

As of 16 August 2022, the government is in reported talks with American Airlines to increase frequencies to the airport with an extra daily service (Weekends, Mondays, and Wednesdays) from Miami.

On Monday, 14 October 2013, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 operated by Danish Air Transport in collaboration with Coca-Cola arrived on the island, carrying the FIFA World Cup Trophy.

[25] On Saturday, 2 November 2019, a United States Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III arrived with cargo and other humanitarian equipment.

[27] On Monday, 17 April 2023, Conviasa operated chartered flights from Caracas with their Embraer E190 aircraft (YV2911 & YV2912) for the Alba Games in Venezuela.

[28] On Saturday, 9 September 2023, one of Aurora Anguilla Resort & Gulf Club's Embraer E170 aircraft arrived at the airport as a Men's Senior Football team charter.

[32] The Passenger Terminal at the airport houses 10 airline check-in counters,[33] the arrivals and departures area, and 2 Gates.

Recently, there was an addition made to the terminal, which added an Executive Lounge that all arriving and departing passengers can utilize.

Runway 09 has a 1,749-foot Displaced Threshold due to the rising terrain to the west of the airport, with an available landing distance of 4,603 feet.

Runway 09 will extend further into the valley to accommodate larger passenger aircraft and a higher Takeoff Weight by the existing Envoy Air service.

The runway extension project at the Douglas Charles Airport was completed last week, extending the previous facility from 180 meters.

The runway is said to be built with stronger and more resilient material, aiding improved flow and providing a safe landing for the aircraft during wet weather conditions.

[19] H1 Stayover Arrivals The airport houses the Dominica Outstation of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority.