Its extraordinarily rapid increase in passenger traffic rate (≤+20.0% annually) is speculated to bring it to top 10 busiest airports in Russia by 2020.

It is unknown when the first aerodrome in Nizhny Novgorod was built, but its location was 0.5 km north from where the "Moscow" movie theater stands today.

In 1937, due to Gorky's (Nizhny Novgorod's official name between 1932 and 1990) spontaneous population increase, the USSR Council of Ministers ordered that a new aerodrome was to be built outside the city's municipal district.

From 1966 to 1973, a new administrative zone, repair hangar, cargo terminal, and hostel completed construction.

In 2003, after a steady decrease in passenger traffic and a lack of sufficient funds, Nizhny Novgorod International Airport went bankrupt and was forced to host multiple auctions.

Nizhny Novgorod needed more passengers in order to start receiving investments.

But in order to have more passengers, a new modern terminal was needed to be built, to set a more pleasant environment.

In 2012, certain renovations were made in order to more efficiently exploit the existing facility whilst the new one was being built.

The second terminal will be built after the 2018 World Cup, which is being hosted by Nizhny Novgorod among other cities, and the aforementioned railway station is planned to be constructed during that time as well.

Strigino's intense passenger traffic rate increase provoked an interest from multiple stock companies, including Basel Aero and HC Airports of Regions.

AoR (Airports of Regions) won their bid on the investment project in Strigino in 2011.

It has been officially confirmed that the Moscow to Kazan high-speed rail will pass through the Strigino Airport.

This major project is planned to bring over 6,000,000 passengers from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod Int.

Phase II takes into consideration the construction of a 4-star hotel, the high-speed railway station, and the expansion of the terminal.

The Nizhny Novgorod - Arzamas railway line runs close to the airport.