While most people associate the Alliance Municipal Airport with scheduled commercial flights to and from Denver, Colorado, the story of the airfield actually began in 1942, during the early years of World War II. In April of that year, the United States Army Air Force selected this site as one of 11 training airfields to be built in Nebraska, largely because the dry climate and open landscape afforded ideal flying conditions. Almost immediately, five thousand construction workers descended upon Alliance, doubling the population almost overnight. Within three months, four 9,000-foot runways had been completed.

The nearly 32,000-acre field was home to the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the 326th Glider Infantry, airborne engineers, and many more air crews who trained here before deployment to the European Theater. At its peak in the fall of 1943, the 775 buildings surrounding the airfield were home to 12,500 military personnel.

After Japan surrendered in September of 1945, the Army Air Force temporarily deactivated the Alliance Airfield. By December of that same year, it was declared surplus property and most of the buildings were sold. Nearly eight years later, on July 16, 1953, the city of Alliance and the federal government finalized the transfer for the land and buildings which were to become the Alliance Municipal Airport. A large number of World War II-era buildings are still used today.

Besides the commercial flights on Denver Air Connection, the airport also has five hangars that house approximately 57 aircraft. Over 13,000 operations are conducted annually, a mix of commercial flights, charter flights, military, and all general aviation flights.