It was a British military airbase until 1976, used as a staging post for RAF aircraft flying to the Far East during World War II.

[1] The first aircraft, an RAF Westland Walrus biplane, landed on the crushed coral runway of Gan on 8 February 1943.

Funding was subsequently found to develop the island, and RAF Gan became a civilian domestic airport.

In June 2009, a public enterprise by the name of Gan Airport Company Limited (GACL) was established by President Mohamed Nasheed as part of GoM's privatization policy.

[7] In 2023, Renaatus Projects Pvt Ltd signed a contract with AIA to expand the airport to include bigger passenger terminals, fire station, parking lots, cargo facilities, restaurants and duty-free shops, control tower.