The airport is currently used for military training activities, as well as for chartered helicopter taxi flights for tourists visiting nearby attractions such as Ha Long Bay.

[3] On September 26, 1940, as part of the Invasion of French Indochina, Japanese forces took possession of the airfield, maintaining control throughout World War II, until their surrender to the Việt Minh during the August Revolution.

After their defeat at Dien Bien Phu and the following 1954 Geneva Peace Accords, French forces, obliged to leave Vietnam, handed over the airfield to the Viet Minh.

Gia Lam airfield was thereafter taken over by Ho Chi Minh's North Vietnamese government and used by the VPAF as their main airbase in the Hanoi area.

[6] All North Vietnamese airfields were removed from the USAF's "restricted target" list in April 1967, and Gia Lam was one of six deemed suitable for fast jet operations.

[7] Following the cease-fire mandated by the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973, Gia Lam was the site of Operation Homecoming, the return of American POWs held by the North Vietnamese.

[10][11] On April 8, 2008, a Soviet-built Antonov An-26 turboprop aircraft on a training mission crashed into a field in Thanh Trì District, in the outskirts of Hanoi, killing five Vietnamese military pilots.

[15] Gia Lam's 2000m by 45m runway is suitable for small, short-haul aircraft such as ATR 72 twin-turboprops or Fokker 70 jets,[16] which are already operated by Vietnam Airlines as part of their fleet.

[16] The renovations, which would have allowed the airport to meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization,[1] were estimated to cost VND 287 billion (US$17.3 million).