The airfield was built prior to World War II by the French Air Force Armée de l'Air.

In 1939, GB I/19 and II/19 "Gascogne" of Snisian FA South stationed Bloch MB.210 bombers at the airfield.

After the Battle of France in 1940, the Vichy French Air Force (Armée de l'Air de Vichy) continued to use the airfield until its abolition in November 1942 after the Operation Torch Landings in French North Africa and the German takeover of Tunisia afterward.

The airfield was seized in February 1943 by elements of the United States Army II Corps during the Tunisian Campaign and was turned over to the USAAF Twelfth Air Force 31st Fighter Group, which had moved east from Youks-les-Bains Airfield, Algeria, during the North African Campaign for use against the German Afrika Korps.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency