[1] In 2019, passenger numbers once again passed the 1 million mark, due in part to Ryanair operating several new flights to/from the airport.

RAF Exeter was used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Ninth Air Force as a D-Day troop transport base with Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports dropping paratroops near Carentan to land on the Normandy Beachhead.

Two brass plaques on the wall near the airport's observation lounge commemorate the activities of 3 squadrons of the Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain that were based at Exeter during World War II, and commend their actions in defence of the city of Exeter.

[4] Exeter met the requirement of basing USAAF troop carrier groups close to where units of the 101st Airborne Division were located and within reasonable range of the expected area of operations.

On 11 September, the headquarters of the 440th TCG was established at the group's new base at Reims, France (ALG A-62D), and the last of the air echelon left Exeter two days later.

Walruses of an RAF air-sea rescue flight were the next tenants, and these were joined by a glider training unit early in 1945.

Post-war, Exeter was reclaimed by Fighter Command and a French Supermarine Spitfire squadron, No.

691 Squadron's target-towing Vultee A-31 Vengeances, which had been present for more than a year, proved to be the last RAF flying unit of the Second World War period based at Exeter.

A new terminal building was opened in the early 1980s, and various other improvements, including a runway extension, were carried out over the following years to establish Exeter as an important airport in the West Country.

New services to Glasgow and the first route to be supported by the new Government Regional Air Connectivity fund to Norwich, contributed to a 19% increase in passenger numbers during the month of August.