Development of this twin-turboprop transport was started in 1957, to replace piston-engined types on Aeroflot's internal feederline routes. The An-24 was intended originally to carry 32 to 40 passengers, but when the prototype flew on 20 October 1959, it had been developed into a 44-seater. It was followed by a second prototype and five preproduction An-24. Flight trials were stated to be complete in September 1962 and the An-24 entered service on Aeroflot's routes from Moscow to Voronezh and Saratov in September 1963. More than 50 million passengers and 500,000 tonnes of cargo had been carried by Aeroflot An-24V by 1971. The An-24 is designed to operate from airfields of limited size, with paved or natural runways and can be fitted with rocket-assisted take-off units to permit operation with a full load of cargo at ambient temperatures above 30°C. Two were taken to the Antarctic in late 1969, to replace piston-engined Il-14 used previously for flights between Antarctic stations.

Production ended in 1979, by which date around 1,200 had been built at the Irkutsk, Ulan Ude and Kiev factories.

A few remain in Russian Air Forces inventory; nearly 600 are distributed between 125 civil operators. Versions known as Y7 continue in production at Xian in China.

On the prototype, the engine nacelles extended only a little past the wing trailing-edges: production An-24 have lengthened nacelles with conical rear fairings. A ventral tail fin was also added on production models of the passenger-carrying version, which are supplemented by the An-24T and An-26 specialised freight-carrying versions of the same basic design.