The airfield was built to minimise the threat from the Yugoslav Air Force entering Albanian airspace.

The aircraft, piloted by Ismet Zervoi and Martin Bregu, was successfully belly-landed on the grass next to the runway without much damage.

[3] From February to April 1994, the base was in use by the CIA to fly unmanned spy missions over Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, using two Gnat-750 pilotless drones and a ground satellite transmitting station.

[8] The Gnat-750 lacked a satellite uplink antenna and so was used in conjunction with a Schweizer RG-8 powered glider as the flying data relay substitute.

[11] The two Gnats were then refitted with a thermal imaging sensor and an improved SIGINT package and redeployed to Croatia in 1994, achieving a significantly more effective performance.

[12] From April to November 1995 the Gjadër base hosted Predator UAV systems operated by the US Army's Charlie Company Military Intelligence Battalion (Low Intensity),[13] to monitor the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[16] On 12 March 1997, the base was stormed by local people during a national revolt against the Albanian government.

[2] A feature of Gjadër Air Base is the mountain storage area for aircraft featuring two entrances beside the airfield buildings, accessed by a separate taxiway about 2 km long through farm fields, west of the main taxiway, dispersal, and runway complex.