It shares facilities and airport codes with the Misawa Air Base.

An Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service base was established at Misawa in 1941, and nearby Lake Ogawara was reportedly one of the locations used by the Imperial Japanese Navy to practice for the attack on Pearl Harbor due to its shallow depth.

However, commercial operations were suspended from March 31, 1965, due to pressure from the United States, citing safety and security concerns, and flight operations were transferred to nearby JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base.

Initially served by Toa Airways with McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft to Tokyo (Haneda), Sapporo (Chitose), and Osaka Itami, operations were upgraded to Airbus A300 aircraft after Toa Airways became Japan Air System in 1988.

However, with the opening of the Tōhoku Shinkansen to Hachinohe in December 2002, the number of passengers has decreased and equipment changed back to the MD-80.