The airport was built during the 1930s and became the base of the Italian Regia Aeronautica.

After being heavily bombed by Allied forces during the Invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) in July 1943, it stayed open until 1949 when the new Trapani–Chinisia Airfield was opened.

From 1975 the airport was used by the Italian Space Agency as the launch site for stratospheric balloons.

[1] It was one of the few in the world able to launch balloons across the Mediterranean (to Spain) and across the Atlantic, which was fundamental for astrophysics and astronomy research.

The launch base in July 2001 was named after Italian aerospace engineer Luigi Broglio.