It is located in Klotzsche, a district of Dresden 9 km (5.6 mi) north[2] of the city centre.

Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), a subsidiary of ST Engineering Aerospace and Airbus, is based at the airport.

Attempts to destroy buildings and equipment before Allied troops could occupy Dresden failed due to the resistance of civil airport employees.

Passenger traffic was limited to domestic routes and to a few destinations in other Eastern Bloc countries.

After German reunification, the airport was expanded and flights to western European capitals were added.

In February 2015, Etihad Regional terminated of all their Dresden operations (which had commenced only two years earlier) due to changes to their strategy.

[6] In June 2015, CityJet announced the termination of their route from London City Airport to Dresden after two years, citing low demand.

[8] In October 2024, Ryanair announced the termination of all routes at three German airports including Dresden, citing high operational costs.

[25] The airport has a multi-storey car park with approximately 1,500 spaces, connected to the terminal building by a glass-covered pedestrian bridge.