The airfield was used by the
British Royal Air Force (RAF) at the end of the
Mesopotamian Campaign of
World War I and from 1920 RAF aircraft squadrons (and from 1922 also Royal Air Force armoured car companies) were based there while
Iraq was under the
League of Nations British Mandate. RAF Mosul was handed over to the
Royal Iraqi Air Force in 1936 under the terms of the 1931 Mandate but was used again by the RAF during
World War II. The airport was retaken by the Iraqi government in an effort spearheaded by the
Federal Police on 23 February 2017. In March 2018, de-mining operations started in the Mosul International Airport and were completed in November 2019. In August 2020, the responsibility for the reconstruction of the Mosul International Airport was changed from the
Nineveh Governorate to the Reconstruction Fund for Areas Affected by Terror Operations (REFAATO). In December 2020, the Iraqi government came to a preliminary deal with SEA Milan Airports and Aeroports de Paris Ingenierie to reconstruct and renovate the Mosul International Airport. For the project SEA and Aeroports de Paris Ingenierie partnered with a local company and offered financing through a
French government and
Italian Government loan. The airport was formally reinaugurated by Prime Minister
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on 16 July 2025, with resumption of regular flights scheduled in September. On 6 November 2025, the first commercial flight of
Iraqi Airways landed at Mosul International Airport from Baghdad after it resumed its operations. ==Airlines and destinations==