The airport has been used for special air industry events and showcases including the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Convention which was held there in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2022.

[2] Orlando Executive Airport served as the receiving site for the majority of Special Olympic Athletes during the largest non-military human airlift in the US.

[1] In the year ending December 31, 2020 the airport had 122,835 aircraft operations, an average of 337 per day: 95% general aviation, 5% air taxi and less than 1% military.

The 481st Night Fighter Group was established, equipped with the Douglas P-70, a variation of the A-20 Havoc attack aircraft used for training.

In 1946 passenger flights on National Airlines and Eastern Air Lines began at the now civil Orlando Municipal Airport.

The airport's 6000 foot main runway, Runway 7/25, wasn't long enough for early jet airliners such as the Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8 and Convair 880, so the city and Orange County governments lobbied the U.S. Air Force to convert McCoy Air Force Base, a Strategic Air Command B-52 base about eight miles to the south, to a civil-military airport with an airline terminal on undeveloped land on the east side of the base and military operations on the west side.

[7] Eastern and National operated Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops with National flying direct service to New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., Norfolk, Charleston, SC, Savannah, Jacksonville, FL and Miami, and Eastern operating nonstop and direct flights to Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, FL and Tallahassee.

[8] Eastern Convair 440 prop aircraft also stopped at ORL with local service being flown to several destinations in Florida.

In 1992, in cooperation with the City of Orlando, GOAA constructed Colonel Joe Kittinger Park in the southwest corner of the airport.

Named in honor of noted local aviator, Colonel Joe Kittinger Jr., USAF (Ret) by the City of Orlando, the aviation-themed park overlooks the approach end of ORL's Runway 7.

In 2014, GOAA and City of Orlando officials approved inclusion in the park of a demilitarized F-4D Phantom II jet fighter on loan from the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (NMUSAF).