It is located next to the intersection of the Tullamarine and Calder Freeways, in the north western suburb of Essendon Fields of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

The 1920s period saw the great pioneering aviation flights of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith who visited the airport on several occasions.

On 16 August 1926 70,000 people swarmed across the grassy fields of Essendon Aerodrome upon the arrival of aviation pioneer Alan Cobham when he landed his de Havilland DH.50 floatplane, flown from England to Australia.

On 21 November 1937 Jean Burns, a seventeen year old member of the Aero Club, leapt from a DH4 in front of a crowd of hundreds of people and landed in a nearby paddock.

In 1959 Cabinet approved the acquisition of 2,167 ha (5,350 acres) in Tullamarine for the purpose of a new international airport, which began construction in the 1960s and was ready to handle aircraft by 1967, but not passenger flights.

A variety of aircraft were used through Essendon in the 1960s – Lockheed L-188 Electras; Vickers Viscounts; Fokker F27 Friendships; Douglas DC-3s, DC-4s, and DC-6s; de Havilland Comets, and from 1964, Boeing 727s.

Executive, corporate, and privately owned aircraft are based here along with charter, freight, and regional Victorian airlines who currently operate from the airport as well as several flight training schools.

A new access road and off-ramp were constructed from the Tullamarine Freeway to enter the airport precinct from the north, rather than the common Matthews Avenue entry point.

Most of the aviation users of the former 'Northern Hangars' have moved to other sites on the airport with the notable exceptions of the Victoria Police Air Wing and Executive Airlines.

The Police Air Wing is due to move to a new facility in the future as the former 'Northern Hangars' are scheduled to be removed as non-aviation businesses purchase sites in that area.

The airfield itself also has undergone a major upgrade with the installation of lighting and signage systems to bring the airport to International Civil Aviation Organization standards.