A licence was granted by the then-Civil Aviation Branch of the Department of Defence on 1 July 1936 and the new airport began hosting regular public transport flights.

In July 1939, the Federal Government purchased the aerodrome from its civilian owners and commenced the construction of a Royal Australian Air Force base which was to house the No.

On 29 May 1947, the airport was handed over to the Department of Civil Aviation and this saw the return of regular public transport flights to the region with Ansett Airways announcing that a daily service would operate between Mount Gambier and Melbourne.

In July 1947, the Mount Gambier Gliding Club was formed and over the next 40 years the airport continued to prosper as a critical port for flights from Adelaide and Melbourne.

The upgrade, part of a 15-year redevelopment plan, will strengthen the main runway, aprons and taxiways, to enable larger aircraft to operate to the airport and help increase the area's tourism appeal.

[5] A further more substantial upgrade was unveiled in July 2019 which included replacement of the existing terminal with a new modern and larger facility, with the ability to implement future security screening.

The school currently operates two small aircraft and caters for students working towards either their RA, GA or Commercial Pilots licences.

[10] The airline initially began with a flight training school in 1973 before expanding into freight and passenger services with scheduled domestic routes to Adelaide and Melbourne..

[13] In 2020, QantasLink announced further expansion of regional routes, with flights from Mount Gambier to Adelaide and Melbourne commencing in March 2021, using Dash 8 300 Series aircraft.

[1][3] Source Bitre[15] The Mount Gambier Aero Club Inc. was originally formed in the 1930s and continued through to the Second World War when the airport was taken over by the Royal Australian Air Force.