The airport was created in 1939 as a small landing site in the Misrata province of Italian Libya.
On 15 December 2011 the airport celebrated its first regularly scheduled international commercial flights by a non-Libyan airline (Turkish Airlines).
On 14 July 2014, the airport was closed to flights due to clashes at Tripoli International Airport, which Misrata International Airport is dependent on for its operations. Flights resumed on the night of 15 July.[4]
On August 3, 2020, a fire destroyed the airport's passenger terminal.[