In August 1942, the United States Army Air Forces requested that the Australian government construct an aerodrome on Norfolk Island for use by its heavy bombers.

It was built by the Civil Constructional Corps, comprising volunteers from New South Wales government departments.

The first runway was completed in late 1942, with a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) plane landing on Christmas Day.

[4] As Norfolk Island did not have enough flat ground, in 1942 several bulldozers were used to knock the tops off several hills, and fill in the valleys between them.

Two new Rosenbauer Panther ARFF replaced two 1960s era Thornycroft Nubian Mk 1 6x6 airport tenders in 2009.

[13] However, due to Air New Zealand staffing issues related to COVID-19 border closures in 2021, Qantas temporarily took over both routes from the Australian mainland to Norfolk Island from 19 March 2021.

On 16 December 2016, Air New Zealand announced it was ceasing its flight services between Norfolk Island and Auckland citing low passenger numbers.

In 1996, Ansett Australia was operating nonstop Boeing 737-300 jet service between the airport and Sydney four days a week.

[18] Norfolk Island Airport was ranked 56th in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2010–2011.