A rudimentary airport was built in Tianjin in the 1930s. In 1941, when Tianjin was under Japanese occupation, an airport for military purposes was built. After the liberation of Tianjin in 1949, the airport was enlarged three times in 1952, 1959 and 1974. It is now a first-class airport of the state, occupying more than 1,253 hectares of land, its runway having been extended to 3,200 metres in length and 50 metres in width, making it capable of handling all types of large passenger and cargo planes.

In May 1985, the China Civil Aviation Training Centre was set up in the China Civil Aviation Academy located at the airport.