The airport, owned by Transport Canada since it was constructed and operated, since 2000, by the Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA) forms part of the National Airports System. The airport hosts the headquarters of Jazz Air and CanJet.

It is the 7th busiest airport in Canada by passenger traffic. In 2009, the airport handled a total of 3,417,164 passengers and 88,477 aircraft movements.

An airfield in West End, Halifax on the Halifax Peninsula known as Chebucto Field operated as the city's main airport until 1942, when it closed. RCAF Station Shearwater functioned as Halifax's primary airport until June 1960, when the current airport was opened. The Kelly Lake site was selected in order to reduce the number of days per year fog would affect airport operation. There is a continuing myth that the tree cutting that was required to construct the airport altered the fog patterns, however a weather analysis of the 1960-2008 period would show that this is, indeed, an "urban" myth. The origin of the myth may come from commuters, who may experience very localized fog near the airport during their morning drive along Highway 102.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks the airport was part of Operation Yellow Ribbon, as it took 40 flights—more flights than any other Canadian airport involved in the operation—carrying about 7,300 passengers—more passengers than any other Canadian airport involved in the operation other than Vancouver, which registered 8,500. Much of this was because flights that were coming from Europe were told to avoid the major airports in Central Canada, like Toronto Pearson, Montréal-Dorval, and Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport.

To honour the people of Gander and Halifax for their support during the operation, Lufthansa named a new Airbus A340-300 "Gander-Halifax" on May 16, 2002. That airplane is listed with the registration D-AIFC, and is the first aircraft of the whole fleet with a city name outside of Germany.

In 2005 the main passenger terminal was renamed in honour of Robert Stanfield, the former Premier of Nova Scotia and federal Leader of the Official Opposition, with a plaque placed on the public observation floor. On Friday February 9, 2007 Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived at the airport and officially announced the renaming of the entire facility from 'Halifax International Airport' to 'Halifax Robert L. Stanfield International Airport' in a further honour to Mr. Stanfield; at that time the terminal name was dropped and reverted to its original status.

Halifax Airport fared well in the 2005 AETRA survey for passenger satisfaction, produced by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Airports Council International. The airport was ranked the best airport in the Americas for the second year in a row, as well as the best airport in the less than 5 million passengers a year category for the third year in a row (worldwide), and best domestic service for the second year in a row.

In March 2007, Halifax Airport earned two first-place finishes in the 2006 Airports Council International (ACI) Service Quality Awards held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For the fourth consecutive year, it ranked first in overall passenger satisfaction for airports worldwide with under five million passengers. In addition, the airport ranked first in the Americas in the new category of Airport People Awards, and second in the best domestic airport worldwide category.

The airport terminal building at the airport was originally opened in September, 1960. It currently serves over 3.5 million passengers per year and growing. The growth experienced in the decades since the airport's construction necessitated constant renovations, and there is often construction occurring there.

Since 1998, the airport has been undergoing an extensive renovation program. The next phase of this program was announced in September 2004. The major multi-year expansion project will include a rehabilitation of the runways and taxiways, new terminal expansions, new parking lots (including an enclosed garage that opened in the spring of 2009), a new hotel, and internal beautifications including an observation tower. The project will cost over $250 million. The airport has completed an observation tower along with work on aesthetic improvements to the terminals, with work on the parking lot/garage, terminal expansion and runway rehabilitation scheduled for completion in 2010.