United Express CRJ at Missoula, July 2015

Terminal at Missoula Airport, May 2007-1

Missoula Montana Airport is located in

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

, in

Missoula County Missoula County is located in the State of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 117,922, making it Montana's third-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Missoula. The county was founded in 1860. Missoula Coun ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. It is owned by the Missoula County Airport Authority.. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective June 7, 2014. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''primary commercial service'' airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

records say the airport had 288,071 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 281,428 in 2009 and 289,875 in 2010. Several expansion projects have been completed in recent years. A 101-foot control tower was completed in September 2012. An expansion of the old terminal building, with a new security screening area, was completed in 2007. In 2022, construction finished on the new terminal. In September 2021, the airport changed its name from Missoula International Airport to Missoula Montana Airport.

History

Missoula's first landing strip was laid out in 1923 south of the university. An additional strip near the Western Montana Fair Grounds on what is now

Sentinel High School Sentinel High School is located in Missoula, Montana, United States. It is in the Missoula County Public Schools District No. 1. Sentinel has approximately 1,300 students, and a faculty of approximately 100. Sentinel was ranked sixth-best high sch ...

was sold to the county in 1927 at the request of the Missoula chapter of the National Aeronautic Association and would become Missoula's first true airport. The current airfield is named after that chapter's first president, Harry O. Bell, along with mountain flying pioneer Bob Johnson of Johnson Flying Service (now Minuteman Aviation). The original Garden City Airport was renamed Hale Field in 1935 and would operate as such until closing forever in 1954. The airport was gradually replaced by the Missoula County Airport, opened in 1941 with WPA funds, and the cooperation of the

US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

, which needed access to an airport. The new airport was renamed Johnson-Bell Field in 1968 and today serves over 750,000 passengers a year.

Facilities

The airport covers 2,700 acres (1,093 ha) at an elevation of 3,206 feet (977 m). It has two

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

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, concre ...

s: 12/30 is 9,501 by 150 feet (2,896 x 46 m) and 8/26 is 4,612 by 75 feet (1,406 x 23 m). In the year ending January 1, 2018 the airport had 35,944 aircraft operations, average 98 per day: 63%

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 ...

, 16%

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) ...

, 20% airline, and 2% military. 161 aircraft were then based at the airport: 56% single-engine, 20% multi-engine, 18% jet, and 14%

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 ...

. The airport recently constructed a new 101-foot tall control tower, replacing one that opened in 1961. The new control tower is one of the tallest control towers in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

, and is the tallest in

. It cost an estimated $6.77 million. Due to increased patronage, it was determined in 2013 that further expansion of the current terminal was not financially prudent, with a new terminal instead being proposed. Construction started on Phase 1 of the new terminal, the South Concourse, in 2018, and finished in 2022. Demolition of the old terminal was completed in 2023, with construction on Phase 2, the East Concourse Extension starting shortly thereafter. This will include four new gates, an expanded baggage claim area and a new rental car center.

Airlines and destinations

Neptune Aviation Neptune Aviation Services Inc. is an aerial firefighting company based out of Missoula International Airport in Missoula, Montana. It provides aerial support and firefighting to the United States, Canada, Chile and throughout the world. Founded in ...

, an

aerial firefighting Aerial may refer to: Music * ''Aerial'' (album), by Kate Bush * ''Aerials'' (song), from the album ''Toxicity'' by System of a Down Bands *Aerial (Canadian band) * Aerial (Scottish band) * Aerial (Swedish band) Performance art * Aerial sil ...

company, is based at the airport.

Statistics

Top destinations

References

External links

Missoula Montana Airport
official website * * * {{Authority control Airports in Montana Buildings and structures in Missoula, Montana Transportation in Missoula County, Montana 1941 establishments in Montana