Sitia Airport began operations on June 7, 1984, when the first aircraft landed on the facility. This was an Olympic Airways’ Dornier Do-228, registration SX-BHF. This was a test flight, to test the airport and its handling facilities.
The airport was officially opened 2 days later, on June 9, 1984. Its official name became Δημοτικός Αερολιμένας Σητείας, literally Municipal Airport of Sitia. At 10:30 the same day, the first official flight, OAL 7001, arrived. On June 13, the first flight from Rhodes arrived, followed by a flight from neighbouring island Karpathos the next day.
On May 20, 1993, the airport’s services moved to a newly built terminal building and control tower. The new installations cover an area of 550 m2. A new runway, oriented 05/23 and with a length of 2074 meters was completed in May 2003. Also, 3 new taxiways and 2 new aircraft stands have been constructed. Additionally, the old terminal building has been replaced by a temporary building, covering an area of 1,000 m.