During
World War II, the Australian Government bought the airport for use by the
Royal Australian Air Force. In 1943, the main runway was hard surfaced and lengthened to handle military aircraft. It was also used by the
United States Army Air Forces as a transport base, with the 33d Troop Carrier Squadron (374th Troop Carrier Group) operating from the base during 1942. In 1949, the main runway was lengthened to to accommodate larger aircraft. During the mid-1960s, the airport was upgraded and the runway further lengthened to and strengthened so jets could land. During the 1970s, Australia's two domestic airlines
Trans Australia Airlines and
Ansett provided regular scheduled services to most Australian capital cities and also Papua New Guinea, while in 1975
Air Niugini became the first international airline to commence flights out of Cairns, to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. In 1982, redevelopment of the airport commenced. This involved further lengthening of the runway to (making it the longest runway in Queensland) and construction of a new terminal building. The first stage of the redevelopment was finished in 1984 and a dual International and Domestic Terminal was opened. At the end of the decade the second stage of redevelopment was completed. This included a new separate International Terminal, associated aprons and taxiways, costing an estimated $80 million. The main runway was again extended, to . The third stage of redevelopment was completed in 1997, during which a three-storey Airport Administration Centre was constructed providing of office space. A$200 million redevelopment of the Domestic Terminal started in August 2007 and was completed in 2010. Check-in facilities were expanded into a common-user facility for all airlines, and the building enlarged. Five new jet bridges replaced the existing three old bridges. In January 2010, Auckland International Airport Limited announced that it had purchased 24.6 per cent of North Queensland Airports (NQA), operator of the airports at Cairns and Mackay, for about $132 million. A further upgrade of the Domestic Terminal commenced in 2019 and was completed in August 2020, at a total cost of $55 million. The main purpose of the upgrade was to prepare the terminal to handle the domestic portion of the airport's projected 6 million passengers annually from 2027.
Virgin Australia launched daily direct service to
Tokyo-Haneda on 28 June 2023 with the newly arrived Boeing 737 Max 8 fleet. In early 2023, it was announced that the International Terminal (Terminal 1) would undergo its first major upgrade in April 2023 to a value of AUD$40–50 million. The announced upgrades would be rolled out in stages to 'minimise passenger disruptions', the first of which would feature the installation of four new glass air-bridges and the re-cladding of the exterior of the building. In December 2023, the airport was affected by
Tropical Cyclone Jasper forcing it to close for several days. In March 2024, it was announced that both Cairns and Mackay Airports would run on 100% renewable energy sources from 2025. ==Facilities==