In 1935, Aeroput operated three times weekly the non-stop route Belgrade – Sarajevo, which was extended to Dubrovnik a year later.

The need for a new airport in Sarajevo, with an asphalt-concrete runway, was acknowledged in the mid-1960s when JAT, Yugoslav national carrier at that time, began acquiring jet planes.

The first renovation came for the 1984 Winter Olympics, when the runway was extended by 200 meters, the navigation system was improved, and a new terminal building was built, designed for 1 million passengers a year.

[citation needed] At the beginning of the Bosnian War, the airport was put under control of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA).

The High Representative stated that such a renaming might undermine the reconciliation process by alienating non-Bosniak citizens.

Vlado Jurić, Head of the Office for aviation safety at Bosnia and Herzegovina Air Navigation Services Agency (BHANSA), presented the information about problems caused by reduced minimums at Sarajevo Airport.

It means that the RWY 12 threshold should be moved for additional 200 metres which would reduce the runway length and as such is unacceptable.

From the point of view of procedure design, the reduction of minimums is not an option and therefore it is necessary to find other solutions for improvement of landing conditions at Sarajevo Airport.

The representative of Sarajevo Airport, Mr Nermin Zijadić informed that there is a relevant plan regarding this problem.

He also presented the information about future projects of Sarajevo Airport among which the most important one is a reconstruction of the runway including its lighting system.

[13] In 2017, Sarajevo International Airport welcomed six new airlines and seven destinations: AtlasGlobal (Istanbul), Wizz Air (Budapest), Wataniya Airways (Kuwait City), Nesma Airlines (Riyadh), TUI fly Belgium (Charleroi), flydubai (Dubai), Qatar Airways (Doha).

In October and November 2019, FlyBosnia started flights to London Luton and Rome Fiumicino Airport.

On 17 November 2020, Sarajevo International Airport terminated its contract with FlyBosnia after the company failed to repay its debts within 60 days.

[21] However, in September 2022, Wizz Air announced it would close its base at the airport, ending all routes except those to London and Abu Dhabi.

[65] The airport is connected with Sarajevo's city center with trolleybus number 103, operated by the GRAS transport company.