Itami Airport opened as No. 2 Osaka Airport (第二大阪飛行場 Dai-ni Usaka HikUjU?) in 1939. Prior to the opening of Itami, Osaka was served by seaplanes which used an airport at the mouth of the Kizu River. In 1931, the Osaka municipal government drafted plans to construct a new "No. 1 Osaka Airport" near the mouth of the Yamato River, also targeted at seaplanes, but concerns about fog and protests from Kobe-based businesses led the government to build the "No. 2 Airport" for land-based aircraft instead.

Construction began in July 1936 on a 53 ha (131 acre) site. The new airport was primarily used by the Imperial Japanese Army during its early years. U.S. occupation forces took over Osaka Airport after the end of World War II in 1945, expanding it to 221 ha and renaming it Itami Air Base. The airfield was used extensively by US forces during the Korean War.[4] In 1954, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio stopped at Itami during their honeymoon, and in 1956, the base was used in the filming of the movie Sayonara.

Itami was renamed Osaka Airport (大阪空港 Usaka KūkU?) following its return to Japanese control in March 1959. The Japanese government quickly implemented a plan to expand the airport by an additional 82.5 ha so that it could accommodate jet aircraft. Despite some protests from locals, the plan was approved by the neighboring city assemblies between 1960 and 1961 with strong backing from local business groups, and land was purchased between 1962 and 1964, in part out of the aviation industry's interest in keeping pace with the development of the Tokaido Shinkansen high-speed rail link between Tokyo and Osaka. The main runway was completed in 1970.

In its heyday Itami was served by a variety of major international carriers, including Pan Am (Japan routes transferred to United in 1985), British Airways, Air India, Cathay Pacific and Korean Air. Northwest Airlines was a major international operator at Itami, and by 1992 offered nonstop service to New York, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Sydney; the Sydney service raised Japanese protest because less than 30% of passengers on the Australia-Japan segment were originating in the U.S.

Osaka International Airport (大阪国際空港 Usaka Kokusai KūkU?) (IATA: ITM, ICAO: RJOO) or Osaka-Itami International Airport is the primary domestic airport for the Kansai region of Japan, including the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. It is classified as a first class airport.

The airport is often called Itami Airport (伊丹空港 Itami KūkU?) because most of its land is located in Itami, HyUgo Prefecture. A portion of the airport property is also located in Toyonaka and Ikeda cities of Osaka Prefecture. The terminal complex is located in all three of these cities, and the only access from the Itami side is via a long tunnel that passes below the runway and apron.

Despite its "international" designation, the airport's scheduled passenger air traffic is entirely domestic. Kansai International Airport (27 mi (43 km) away) took over Osaka's international traffic in 1994 and competes with Itami for domestic traffic. Itami also faces competition from Kobe Airport (16 mi (26 km) away), a smaller domestic airport opened in 2006, nevertheless in FY2006 Itami was Japan's 3rd busiest airport and the Kansai region's busiest.

During 2010, this airport had 62,293 aircraft movements (32 cities). The total number of passengers was 14,193,277. Freight volume was at 125,736 metric tons total.