The Seychelles International Airport was officially opened on the 20th March 1972, by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, although since the 1970’s  Wilkenair of Kenya was operating a  weekly ferry service between Mombasa and Mahe, via Diego Suarez in Madagascar and Astove Island (Seychelles) using a twin engine Piper Navajo.

At the time of the opening, the airport’s runway was  only  2987 meters long with a control tower, and all  ground handling operations  were undertaken  by the Directorate of Civil Aviation better known as (DCA).

The first jet aircraft to land at Seychelles International Airport was the BOAC Super VC10 on July 4th 1971; which opened the Seychelles to increased tourism traffic. The growth of tourism also heightened the aviation industry propelling an expansion of the current structure to meet  further demands  for larger aircrafts to access the airport.

In July 1980, a new terminal building accommodating  400 arriving and departing passengers was built together with parking bays for up to six large jet aircrafts such as the Boeing 767 or the Airbus A330 including additional  parking area for five light aircrafts such as the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A320.

The years 2005-2006 brought along further developments  in Civil Aviation in the Seychelles, in the form of the enactment of  The Civil Aviation Authority Act  in 4th April, 2006  which allowed  for the corporatisation of the Directorate of the Civil Aviation, to the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority as it is today.

Further to this, additional parking areas were made available at the airport in order to handle the parking of  private charters  and long stay aircrafts which had significantly increased.