Jose Villa, an Italian national, was another precursor of Honduran aviation who conducted flights from Toncontín, as did Starnaivola, Enrique Massi, Ball, and Clarence H. Brown.

The civil war in 1924 caused President Tiburcio Carías Andino to realise that aviation had a great future in Honduras, providing an ideal transport solution for the mountainous country, as well as being a strategic military weapon.

For these reasons and with the growth of commercial aviation and the emergence of the Honduran Air Force, General Tiburcio Carías acquired the land that was to become Toncontín Airport in 1933.

It is so short, in fact, that many aircraft seen by plane spotters are seen to be touching down on the displaced threshold of the runway,[citation needed] which by aviation law is not allowed to be landed on.

Historically, larger aircraft have occasionally landed at Toncontín, such as a Douglas DC-8 on a mission with Orbis International in 1987, a C-17 Globemaster in 2008, 2009 and 2011,[4][5] and Boeing 757s operated by American Airlines, which in 2015 replaced them with Airbus A319s.

Toncontín International Airport has 4 gates (2 in the new terminal), a post office, a bank and bureau de change, many restaurants, and several airline lounges, as well as a duty-free shop, car rental services, and a first-aid room.

On May 30, 2008, the crash of TACA Flight 390 prompted the announcement by then Honduran President Manuel Zelaya that all large aircraft operations would move to the Soto Cano Air Base.

On June 25, 2008, President Zelaya reiterated his position of severely restricting international traffic to and from Toncontín and announced his intention to form a commission that would oversee implementing the safety recommendations of the ICAO report.

[29] Departures from runway 02 must turn to a heading of 018 degrees and then climb swiftly to 9000 feet to avoid mountainous terrain just north of the airport.

Because of the short length of the runway and the high altitude of the airport, aircraft require a large amount of power to do this, making late go-arounds potentially dangerous if not executed properly, especially in a plane with a poorer power-to-weight ratio that climbs slower.