[1] The jet age came to Legazpi in the late 1960s and by the 1970s Philippine Airlines (PAL) introduced regular service to/from Manila using British Aircraft Corporation's BAC 1-11s.

Today, it serves local clients and transient passengers from southern Camarines Sur and the province of Sorsogon.

Aside from PAL, Filipinas Orient Airways and Air Manila International served the airport before 1972, the declaration of martial law in the Philippines.

When Pope John Paul II visited the Philippines in 1981, his itinerary included the city of Legazpi.

During that time, day and night, the airport site became an aviation museum of sorts with curious on-lookers taking a glimpse at the heavily guarded fighter plane, exactly the same piece used in the Schwarzenegger film True Lies.

In February 2000, during a lull in nearby Mayon Volcano's eruption (which suspended regular commercial service), a chartered Boeing 727 from Guam landed, bringing relief goods for evacuees.

On September 15, 2001, coming home from her state visit to Japan, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo flew to Legazpi non-stop from Tokyo using a chartered PAL Airbus A320, highlighting the capability of the airport to handle international air traffic.

After its refurbishment in 2015, separate arrival and pre-departure areas for domestic and international chartered flights were added to the terminal building, including office space for the Bureau of Immigration, customs and quarantine, and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.