RAF Blenheim bombers and some Hurricanes were based at the airfield, which became a fully-fledged RAF station in 1943
An airport that "refused to close" is being remembered this weekend, 20 years after flying eventually stopped.
Campaigners fought to save Ipswich Airport after it was earmarked for housing by Ipswich Borough Council, with some occupying the terminal building for about four months.
The anniversary of the closure is being marked with an exhibition.
Organisers said: "There is now a generation that probably doesn't even know Ipswich had its own airport."
Ipswich Airport remembered 20 years after closure
The site was formerly a World War Two airfield and home to RAF Blenheim light bombers, Hurricanes and - for short periods - Spitfire squadrons.
During its 66-year history, the airport launched a daily flight to Clacton with a journey time of just 15 minutes in 1938 and it later handled flights carrying royal passengers and sports stars.
In the 1980s, Suckling Airways started operating flights to Amsterdam and Manchester and by 1990 the airport housed flying schools, a helicopter school, parachute centre and various support firms.
But in 1996 the borough council, which owned the airport, announced the site would close later that year, to be turned into what is now the Ravenswood housing estate.
During the 1990s, several flying schools were based at the Suffolk airport
Saturday's exhibition at the town's Transport Museum has been put together by Ipswich Airport Association (IAA) whose members will be on hand to answer questions.
The reunion and exhibition will also feature press cuttings, photos and memorabilia to mark 20 years since the airport officially closed on 31 December 1996.
Martyn Steggalls, a director of the IAA, who worked part-time at the airport, said: "It's a time when a lot of people involved in the airport can get together and reminisce.
"It's a focal point to people who used to fly from there, work there and lived nearby."
Light airplanes were damaged at the site in the Great Storm of 1987
Suckling Airways' 18-seater planes carried about 12,000 passengers in its first year of operation in 1986
A Dakota plane arrived to take part in a German film and ended up in a museum after being abandoned
The airport terminal, pictured in the 1980s, was occupied around the clock for months by campaigners following its official closure
The former airport site is now the Ravenswood housing estate
A sculpture at the entrance to the estate acknowledges the site's history
- Published23 November 2013
