The inaugural commercial flight to Kelantan occurred on April 6, 1938, following a route survey conducted by Wearne's Air Service.

On April 3, 1940, the airline officially launched regular scheduled flights, establishing a connection between Kota Bharu and Singapore, with stops including to Penang and Kuala Lumpur.

In the third quarter of 2008, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad built a new hangar, a new apron, and new aircraft and helicopter parking bays.

It also made taxiway improvements to cater to the growth of the Asia Pacific Flight Training flying school.

The letter of acceptance was subsequent to an award being given by the Ministry of Transport to Wira Akil whereby TRC was named as the sub-contractor for the project.

The project started on 14 June 2010 and included the construction of a taxiway, helicopter pads, a meteorological station and instrument landing system (ILS).

The building will be expanded to cater to 4 million passengers with a new multi-storey car park and additional aircraft stands (aerobridge) to cope with the expected increase in traffic in the coming decade.

Works include a new multi-storey car park, additional aircraft stands (aerobridge), apron expansion, enlargement runway/taxiway and a new terminal.

The multi-level car park within the airport is fed by a free shuttle bus providing access to passengers.