History
The airport was originally constructed in 1942 by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base for Air Corps Flying Training Command. Gulfport Army Airfield opened on 7 July, and the Eastern Technical Training Command conducted technical training and basic training until transferred to Third Air Force on 31 March 1944 with joint use by Technical Training Command for marine training of Emergency Rescue School (3d Air Rescue Group) located at Keesler Army Airfield. With the end of the war and the drawdown of the military, Gulfport AAF was placed into reserve status on 31 January 1946.
Gulfport Field was declared excess by the Air Force and conveyed by the War Assets Administration to the City of Gulfport in 1949 for use as a civil airport. The City negotiated airline service contracts with Southern Airways and later National Airlines to provide passenger and cargo service beginning in the early 1950s.
Due to the large expansion of the United States Air Force as a result of the Cold War, a new lease was obtained for military use of the airport and Gulfport Air Force Base was opened as a joint-use civil/military facility. Gulfport AFB was closed as an active Air Force installation and its military facilities were transferred to the Mississippi Air National Guard, with the airport remaining a joint-use airport and Air National Guard base.
Through the late 1970s, Southern Airways continued as the primary airline, followed by successors Republic Airlines and Northwest Airlines into the 1990s.
Read more about this topic: Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport
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