Verona Villafranca was a military airport during the Second World War and opened to civil traffic in the first Sixties with some charter flights to the North of Europe and daily connections to Rome. At the end of the Seventies, thanks to the first community project developed by the Province, the Municipality and the Chamber of Commerce of Verona, Verona Villfrance became a real air terminal with offices and facilities. The managing society Aeroporto Valerio Catullo di Verona Villafranca Spa was then established in December 1978 and was partially owned also by the Municipalities Villafranca and Sommacampagna, by the Provinces of Trento (second main shareholder), Brescia, Bolzano and by other local bodies.

In 1990, in order to cope with a constantly growing air traffic, the terminal was strongly developed. The aircraft apron and car parking areas were enlarged, while traffic and viability were improved thanks to the connection to the new ring roads built for the World Cup.

In 1995 the airport reached the record of one million passengers per annum and only five years later, in 2001, the number of people carried grew to two millions.

In 2006 Verona airport reached for the first time the 3 million passengers in one year.

In addition to a gradual and constant passenger flux growth, the Catullo also undertook a significant programme to expand its services and facilities for the increasing number of airport users. The new arrival terminal was newly opened in May 2006, in the presence of Vice-Minister of Transport Cesare De Piccoli and Vice-President of Veneto Region Luca Zaia. The terminal capacity was doubled, since through a significant intervention on the arrival building, a new area became available from the original Catullo building and the departure terminal was further expanded for 3000 square meters. Verona airport is also equipped with a fog-dispersal device, which is the best solution available in Italy and abroad in order to allow flying operations even in case of low visibility. This sophisticated system (which has been in operation since 2003), allows for Category IIIB operation, this means up to this means up to 75 meters visibility.