Originally a modest-sized airport, the facility grew considerably in size in the post-independence period after numerous successive renovation projects.

A regular Asmara-Assab-Mogadishu commercial route was started in 1935, with an Ala Littoria Caproni 133 providing 13-hour flights from the Mogadishu airport to Italian Eritrea.

[4] In the mid-1960s, the airport was enlarged to accommodate more international carriers, with the state-owned Somali Airlines providing regular trips to all major cities.

[9] On 8 June 2007, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) announced that the airport would be renamed in honor of the first President of Somalia, Aden Abdullah Osman Daar, who had died earlier in the day.

The following year, due to security risks brought on by the resumption of fighting in the wake of the Ethiopian intervention, most civilian aircraft opted to land and depart from K50 Airstrip, situated about 50 km from Mogadishu in Lower Shabelle.

[10] However, in the late 2010 period, the security situation in Mogadishu had significantly improved, with the federal government eventually managing to assume full control of the capital by August of the following year.

[14] In June 2014, Minister of Air Transportation and Civil Aviation Said Jama Qorshel announced that additional up-to-date technology earmarked for the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu would be delivered.

[17] The airport also offers flights to other Somali cities such as Baidoa, Galkayo, Berbera and Hargeisa, as well as international destinations like Djibouti, Jeddah,[18] and Istanbul.

[20] In late 2010, SKA Air and Logistics, a Dubai-based aviation firm that specializes in conflict zones, was contracted by the Transitional Federal Government to manage operations over a period of ten years at the re-opened Aden Adde International Airport.

The company also assisted in comprehensive infrastructure renovations, restored a dependable supply of electricity, revamped the baggage handling facilities as well as the arrival and departure lounges, put into place electronic check-in systems, and firmed up on security and work-flow.

[22] In December 2011, the Turkish government unveiled plans to further modernize the airport as part of Turkey's broader engagement in the local post-conflict reconstruction process.

[24] In April 2014, then-Prime Minister of Somalia Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed laid the foundation stone for a new national Aviation Training Academy at the Aden Adde International Airport.

With assistance provided by Japan through the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), it features offices, training facilities, and staff accommodation for early shift workers.