The airport was established in 1939, a year after the closure of the
Aérodrome Saint-Louis. First established as a training facility for air observers, the first flight occurred on September 11, 1941. First known as the Aéroport de l'
Ancienne Lorette, then the Aéroport de
Sainte-Foy, and later the Aéroport de Québec, it was renamed to Aéroport international Jean-Lesage in 1993, in honour of
Jean Lesage, the former
Premier of Quebec. The airport is managed and operated by Aéroport de Québec inc., a non-profit and non-share corporation. The current terminal building has a capacity of 1.4 million passengers annually. The modernization included reconfiguring the terminal on two levels, restructuring the baggage handling area and arrivals area, and reconfiguring and enlargement of the waiting rooms. Fifty-four percent of the financing was provided directly by Aéroport de Québec inc. Completed in June 2008, the new configuration of the airport now enables it to handle 1.4 million passengers a year. Presently the terminal has 17 gates: 12 contact gates and five walk-out aircraft positions. This will increase to 24 gates by 2025. On July 4, 2011, work began on the second phase of the airport expansion, which lasted until 2017. Partially funded through an Airport Improvement Fee, the terminal building doubled in size, at a cost of $224.8 million. The work included expanding the international facilities, constructing runways, taxiways, and de-icing pads, and enhancing customer service facilities. On September 19, 2013, runway 12/30 was renamed to runway 11/29. The airport charges an Airport Improvement Fee (AIF) to each passenger, it is amongst the highest in Canada at $40 per passenger. On 10 March 2016,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and
President Barack Obama announced the addition of the airport to the list of Canadian airports containing
U.S. border preclearance facilities. In 2019, Trudeau and President
Donald Trump also announced that the airport would obtain border preclearance. However, as of March 2024, preclearance is not yet available. On December 11, 2017, the first phase of YQB2018, the expansion project, was completed with the opening of the new international terminal. The new facility features more dedicated baggage carousels serving international flights, a new customs area, an expanded food court and restaurant area including
Starbucks, Pidz, and Nourc, four new gates (34 to 37), an improved and larger loading area for cars and buses, and a larger capacity baggage area. The last expansion phase, which involved linking the domestic and international terminals, was completed in the summer of 2019. Also added as part of the most recent expansion are 10 holes in the security fence placed at positions determined jointly by the airport authority and a local plane spotting group. These holes are sized to allow photographers to insert telephoto lenses and are specifically reserved for their use. In 2019, the American website
Digital Photography Review called the airport "the number one spot for aviation photographers". ==Facilities==