It is located 6.2 kilometres (3.9 mi) south of Xinjiekou, the center of Nanjing, and is surrounded on three sides by the Qinhuai River.

[1] In 1367 Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, established his capital in Nanjing and built a military training ground in the area that the airport now occupies.

[4] It was first built in April 1931 for the Central Aviation School of China, which was soon moved to Hangzhou Jianqiao Airport.

[1] During the War of Resistance-World War II,[6] Dajiaochang and Jurong Airbase served as primary air force bases of the Chinese Air Force in the defense of Nanjing and the support of the Battle of Shanghai; the Japanese army took over the airport when Nanjing fell in December 1937.

After the surrender of Japan in 1945, the Republic of China government expanded the airport, lengthening its runway to 1,200 meters.

[4] On 31 July 1992, the China General Aviation Flight 7552 bound for Xiamen crashed soon after taking off from Dajiaochang Airport.

The Soviet-made Yakovlev 42D crashed into a pond 600 meters past the runway at 15:12 and caught fire, killing 8 of the 10 crew members and 100 of the 116 passengers.