The official opening took place on 3 October 1910 in the presence of military authorities and of many Russian aviators.

On 15 July 1923, the first regular domestic passenger flights between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod started - the 420 km route took 2.5 hours in a 4-seater AK-1 monoplane.

[1] From 1923 to 1926 the facility bore the name "Central L. D. Trotsky Aerodrome" (Центральный аэродром имени Л. Д. Троцкого).

Subsequently, it officially became "Central M. V. Frunze Aerodrome" (Центральный аэродром имени М. В. Фрунзе).

In 1938 the airport gave its name to the newly opened Moscow Metro station Aeroport to the north of the runway.