History

Prior to 1921, when the Valladolid City Council took the first steps to provide an airport in Villanubla, the city had had another three aerodromes: the first, beside the Cavalry Academy, inaugurated in 1910; the second, the La Rubia aerodrome, inaugurated in 1911;and, finally, the San Isidro aerodrome, inaugurated in 1913.

In 1936, the residents of Villanubla offered 700,000 square metres for the airport construction. Valladolid Airport was inaugurated in 1938. The first commercial flight was made by an Iberia-Lufthansa three-engined Junkers 52 which landed on 28 March from Vitoria, and en route to Seville. In that year, the Salamanca-Valladolid-Burgos-Vitoria route commenced.

In 1939, the 1st Air Brigade was installed in Villanubla. The 16th Regiment was created in 1940 and the 33rd Regiment in 1941. The airport opened to civiil traffic in 1946, and the Valladolid flying club was created in 1949.

The runway was improved between 1951 and 1952 by installing rigid pavement and the conditions required for landing with no visibility. The airport remained closed to civil traffic between 1955 and 1964. In 1970, the company Aviaco began operating scheduled flights.

Between 1972 and 1973, the works on the terminal began and the taxiway, apron and urbanisation project contracts were awarded. In 1982, the passenger arrival area was reformed and an ILS category I system was installed on runway 23. The runway was expanded in 1990. On 19 June 1991, the international airport was opened. The new terminal was inaugurated in 2000.