[citation needed] The first aircraft to land at Kerry Airport, on 25 August 1969, was piloted by Captain Milo Carr of the Department of Transport and Power.

[5] Encouraged by the apparent success of other regional airports in Ireland, the board of directors drew up a development plan to lengthen and widen the runway to 1,200m x 30m and to extend and upgrade the terminal buildings and to install an Instrument Landing System and appropriate lighting.

The contract for the new runway of 2,000m x 45m and the new terminal was signed in May 1993, and the official sod-turning ceremony was performed by Dick Spring TD, the Tánaiste.

[5] The Runway 08/26 was licensed by the Irish Aviation Authority on 20 May 1994, and the first flight landed at 13:23 local time on 20 May.

A tender is offered for airlines to provide a minimum level of service in return for subsidy and a monopoly of the route.

[9] In January 2011, it was announced that 20 of the airport's 65 staff would be made redundant, owing to a fall in passenger numbers following Ryanair's withdrawal from its public service obligation (PSO) contract.

[15] In January 2020, Ryanair announced they would commence a twice weekly flight to Manchester from 29 March 2020, every Thursday and Sunday.

[16] Planning permission has been granted in 2023 for a new two storey extension to the terminal, additional departure gate, new arrivals & baggage reclaim area.

[18] The following airlines operate scheduled flights to and from Kerry Airport:[19][20] Farranfore Airport has no direct access by rail, although Iarnród Éireann's Farranfore railway station is located 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) to the south, offering direct services to Tralee and Killarney.