In 1940 100 hectares (250 acres) were requisitioned from the Raadi Manor estates to create a Soviet military airbase.

[2] The airfield was fought over during the Second World War and the manor house was burnt during the Tartu Offensive.

The airport became a major Soviet Long Range Aviation bomber base for fifty years.

By 1993 it was listed as a designated emergency airfield on a Jeppesen chart for airline use although this is no longer possible as the runway has various used car lots preventing use by aircraft.

On 16 January 2006 the winning works of the international architecture competition held to design the new Estonian National Museum building were revealed.