In 1924, works were approved to adapt the air station so that León airport could be used for stopovers by aircraft on the route that linked Madrid and Asturias.

For this purpose, Leon's Provincial Council requested authorisation from the Spanish Ministry of Defence to install civil facilities on the land of the military air station, with permission being granted in 1991.

In 1994, the first stage of León's civil airport project was drawn up and a runway, a link road and an aircraft parking area were built and inaugurated in 1995.

In 2003, a new Rescue and Fire Fighting Services Building was built, with its corresponding developed and landscaped area, as well as a technical block and an elevated water tank.

In October 2005, the runway and aircraft parking apron extensions were put into service and an instrument landing system (ILS CAT I) was installed.

[citation needed] On 22 December 2007, the then Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, presented the third expansion of the airport.

These works duplicated the current capacity of the airport, and allow wide-body aircraft to land, extending the flight range to 4000 nautical miles, making routes to the US, Middle East and Africa possible.