Great Falls International Airport is a public/military airport in city limits three miles southwest of central

Great Falls Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

Cascade County, Montana Cascade County (''cascade'' means ''waterfall'' in French) is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 84,414, making it the fifth-most populous county in Montana. Its county seat is Great Falls ...

, United States. The airport has also been called Great Falls Municipal Airport. The

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''primary commercial service'' airport.

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records say the airport had 143,811 passenger boardings (enplanements) in

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2008, 146,438 in 2009 and 155,204 in 2010. Great Falls International Airport is home to Great Falls Air National Guard Base, which hosts the

Montana Air National Guard The Montana Air National Guard (MT ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Montana, United States of America. Along with the Montana Army National Guard it is an element of the Montana National Guard. As state militia units, the units in the M ...

120th Airlift Wing The 120th Airlift Wing (120 AW) is a unit of the Montana Air National Guard, stationed at Great Falls Air National Guard Base at Great Falls International Airport, Montana. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United State ...

(120 AW), the "Vigilantes." Operationally-gained by

Air Mobility Command Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri. Air Mobility Command was established on 1 June 1992, and was formed from elements ...

(AMC), the 120 AW reequipped with the

Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...

in 2014, which it employs in medium airlift missions. In its previous incarnation as the 120th Fighter Wing, it previously flew the

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...

Malmstrom Air Force Base Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place (CDP) in Cascade County, Montana, United States, adjacent to the city of Great Falls. It was named in honor of World War II POW Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom. ...

, home of the 341st Missile Wing (341 MW) of the

Air Force Global Strike Command Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. AFGSC provides combat-ready forces to conduct strategic nuclear deterrence and global stri ...

(AFGSC), is east of GTF, on the east side of Great Falls. With the transfer of its

KC-135 The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpo ...

aircraft in the 1990s, Malmstrom's runway is closed to fixed-wing traffic and open only to military helicopters, so Great Falls ANGB provides support for fixed-wing military aircraft visiting Malmstrom AFB.

History

Great Falls International Airport was initiated in November 1928. The airport was leased by the

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during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and became a home for the

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(

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...

) of the U.S. Army Air Forces during the war. Located on Gore Hill, the airport was known as Gore Field during its military use. During the war years, more than 7,500 bombers and fighter aircraft passed through Great Falls on their way to Europe and the Pacific. The U.S. Army acquired an additional and built many buildings and other facilities. The airport was under government control until June 1948 when the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

deeded it back to the City of Great Falls with the stipulation that the facility could revert to military control in a national emergency. The airport was released from this clause in 1961. In 1975 the terminal was replaced and all runways, aprons, and taxiways updated. With

matching funds, the Great Falls International Airport Authority performs annual operations, maintenance, and capital improvements. The award-winning terminal was designed by Davidson-Kuhr Architects of Great Falls, Montana, with the lead architect being David S. Davidson. Great Falls has had airline flights since the 1930s. For at least part of each year from 1977 to 1981 it saw scheduled Northwest DC-10s EWR-DTW-ORD-BIL-GTF-GEG-SEA and back. In 2011 the airport recorded the most boardings (172,415) in its history.Johnson, Peter. "Great Falls Airline Boardings Up." ''Great Falls Tribune.'' May 14, 2011.
/ref> GTF was the fifth-busiest of the state's 15 major airports in 2011, behind Billings (407,960 enplanements), Bozeman (397,822), Missoula (292,530), and Kalispell (179,034). In early 2012,

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

announced new flights to Great Falls from the Denver hub. The Airport Authority hoped to address rising ticket prices and a seasonal shortage of seats with low-cost Frontier flights, but Frontier announced it was pulling out of Great Falls during its Denver hub restructuring in December 2014. AvMax, a Calgary-based large jet maintenance and repair business, opened a large operation at GTF in 2006; they employ 150.

Model airplane collection

The terminal contains what is believed to be the world's largest collection of model airplanes. 883 such airplanes are on display, about 2/3 of the entire collection. The models were built and painted by local Great Falls resident Bary Poletto from 1977 through 2003. He died in January 2013.

Facilities

The airport covers 2,113 acres (855 ha) at an elevation of 3,680 feet (1,122 m). It has three asphalt

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

s: 3/21 is 10,502 by 150 feet (3,201 x 46 m); 16/34 is 5,722 by 150 feet (1,744 x 46 m); 7/25 is 4,294 by 75 feet (1,309 x 23 m). In the year ending March 31, 2011 the airport had 41,591 aircraft operations, average 113 per day: 52%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, 25%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

, 12% airline, and 11% military. 108 aircraft were then based at this airport: 61% single-engine, 17% military, 11.1% multi-engine, 8%

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

, and 3% jet.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Top destinations

References

External links

Great Falls International Airport
official site
Montana Air National Guard

Aerial image as of July 1995
from

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'' * *
{{Airports in Montana Airports in Montana Transportation in Cascade County, Montana Buildings and structures in Great Falls, Montana