The airport was constructed as a replacement for the former
Frunzensky Airport that was located to the south of the city, and named after Kyrgyz epic hero,
Manas, suggested by writer and intellectual
Chinghiz Aitmatov. The first plane landed at Manas in October 1974, with Soviet
Premier Alexei Kosygin on board.
Aeroflot operated the first scheduled flight to
Moscow–Domodedovo on 4 May 1975. When Kyrgyzstan gained independence from the
Soviet Union in December 1991, the airport began a steady decline as its infrastructure was neglected for almost ten years and a sizable
aircraft boneyard developed. Approximately 60 derelict aircraft from the Soviet era, ranging in size from helicopters to full-sized airliners, were left in mothballs on the
airport ramp at the eastern end of the field. After the
11 September terrorist attacks and the beginning of the
United States invasion of Afghanistan, the
United States Department of Defense immediately sought permission from the Kyrgyz government to use the airport as a military base. U.S. forces arrived in late December 2001 and immediately the airport saw unprecedented expansion of operations and facilities. The derelict aircraft were rolled into a pasture next to the ramp to make room for coalition aircraft, and large, semi-permanent hangars were constructed to house coalition fighter aircraft. Additionally, a
Marsden Matting parking apron was built along the Eastern half of the runway, along with a large cargo depot and several aircraft maintenance facilities. A
tent city sprang up across the street from the passenger terminal, housing over 2,000 troops. The American forces christened the site "Ganci Air Base", after
New York Fire Department chief
Peter J. Ganci, Jr., who was killed in the
11 September terrorist attacks. It was later given the official name of
Manas Air Base, renamed
Transit Center at Manas in 2009, and closed and handed over to Kyrgyz authorities in 2014. In 2004, a new parking ramp was added in front of the passenger terminal to make room for larger refueling and transport aircraft such as the
KC-135 and
C-17. Around the same time, the Kyrgyz government performed a major expansion and renovation of the passenger terminal, funded in part by the sizable landing fees paid by coalition forces. Several restaurants, gift shops, and barber shops sprang up in the terminal, catering to the deployed troops. The airport terminal underwent renovation and redesign in 2007. On 9 August 2025 Manas International Airport changed IATA code to BSZ. The reconstruction of Manas International Airport has begun under the leadership of
China Road and Bridge Corporation, which will upgrade the runway, apron, and lighting systems by the end of 2025. ==Facilities==