[2][3] In 1964, the Niue Assembly asked the New Zealand government to construct an airport, and a site was surveyed.

[7] The airport received its first flight in December 1970,[9] and its first commercial passengers in July 1971.

[11] It was initially served by Polynesian Airlines Hawker Siddeley HS 748s and Fokker F.27 Friendship aircraft from Fiji,[7] but no direct flights from New Zealand.

[12] The runway was upgraded in 1981, with direct flights to Auckland using Boeing 737s beginning that year.

The airport is named after Ralph Hanan, who was formerly a New Zealand Minister of Island Affairs.