The museum was founded on 1 May 1999 and formally opened on 24 June 2000[1] by Halldór Blöndal, the Speaker of the Althing.

[4][5] Svanbjörn Sigurðsson, a principal figure in the foundation of the museum, was its first director.

[3][6][7][8] Initially in temporary quarters in a hangar rented by Íslandsbanki, the museum moved in 2007 to a purpose-built building with 2,200 square metres (24,000 sq ft) of space, approximately five times what it previously had;[7][9] the building was officially opened by Sigrún Björk Jakobsdóttir, the mayor of Akureyri.

[3] The aircraft collection has been used for training by the Icelandic Technical School [is].

[12] The museum has many photographs of Icelandic aviation through the years and also a number of historic aircraft,[13] many of which it maintains in airworthy condition[14] and flies at least once a year on an annual fly day.