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Grand Canyon National Park Airport terminal marks 55 years

Grand Canyon National Park Airport terminal marks 55 years

By Julian Lopez / ADOT Communications
November 2, 2022

For more than 50 years, the Grand Canyon National Park Airport in Tusayan has served as a hub for many who visit one of Arizona’s most popular tourist sites.

The Grand Canyon airport — owned and operated by the Arizona Department of Transportation — was the sixth-busiest Arizona airport in 2021, serving more than 75,000 passengers.

The current airport opened in 1965 and the terminal was dedicated on Oct. 20, 1967. In honor of the terminal’s 55th anniversary, we decided to take a look at the airport’s past, present and future.

The Grand Canyon National Park Airport is the gateway to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and while the Grand Canyon’s allure stems from its natural beauty, the airport does have modern, man-made amenities. A restroom renovation is nearly complete and other potential upgrades have been identified, too.

The staff at the airport is small in numbers – about 14 – but encompasses a variety of skills and expertise including administrative, maintenance staff and firefighters.

And no blog is complete with some “fun facts,” so here you go:  

  • For the last 20 years, the airport has hosted an annual holiday party for first-grade to third-grade students to decorate a Christmas tree and meet Santa Claus.
  • The airport supports the annual Toys for Tots with the Marines, an event that sees helicopters deliver food and toys to the Havasupai tribe.
  • The airport has featured visits from political figures, including First Lady Jill Biden, who visited the airport in June 2022 while filming a National Geographic’s docuseries, “America’s National Parks.” In 2009, then-President Barack Obama and his family traveled to the airport on Air Force One.

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