The Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) subsequently acquired the airport for military use and made it the base of the 16th Stormo Bombardamento Terrestre ("Terrestrial Bombardment Wing").

After Italy surrendered to the Allies on 8 September 1943 and Italy switched to the Allied side, the airbase came under the control of Benito Mussolini′s Italian Social Republic, which continued to fight on the side of the Axis, and a squadron of the Italian 3rd Fighter Group "Francesco Baracca" and a series of German Luftwaffe squadrons were transferred to it.

In 1943, the Luftwaffe extended the runway to its final length of 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) and also built an impressive aircraft dispersal area in the surrounding countryside, where planes were hidden and protected from Allied bombing.

This left the airbase housing only the Vicenza Airbase Command, supported by the technical services, logistical, and security services provided by the Vigilanza Militare Aeronautica; the 27th Engineer Field Department; the 10th Helicopter Maintenance Group; and a pair of Eurofighter Typhoons crewed by personnel of the Experimental Flight Department and used to test the Typhoon's capabilities, with an emphasis on its short-takeoff-or-landing (STOL) capabilities.

Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) approach equipment, customs, and security procedures were operational whenever the airport was open, including during extensions.

An activist group in Vicenza, "No Dal Molin," organized demonstrations against the proposed base on a national scale in Italy.

The municipal and provincial councils supported the sale, however, and on 16 January 2007 the Government of Italy announced its approval of the construction of the new U.S. base at an estimated cost of approximately 325 million euros.

Meanwhile, the new mayor of Vicenza, Achille Variati, and his newly elected municipal administration expressed their opposition to the construction of the U.S. military base.

For a few months, the BIGA service guaranteed air traffic control operations at the airport from 07:00 to 19:00 Central European Time.

However, the Council of State accepted an appeal by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Defense against the Regional Administrative Court of Veneto's order to hold the referendum, declared the approval of the military installation a "political act, as such unquestionable by the administrative judge," and blocked the referendum four days before it was to take place.

Plans called for VoliRegionali to provide connections from Vicenza Airport to Rome Ciampino, with daily flights beginning on 1 June 2005; to Olbia, as a summer route to be flown on Saturdays and Sundays; and to Forlì and Munich.

9 bus line operated by La Società Vicentina Trasporti (SVT), the public transport company in Vicenza.