History and Expansion
In 1941, land was purchased from the State of Arizona for construction of Davis Dam power plant that was initiated by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1942. In 1943 the Airport is established on Bureau of Land Management property approximately two miles south of the Davis Dam power plant construction site. The employees of the Davis Dam project graded and used the airport. In 1953 the Dam was completed and residential development commenced in Bullhead City, Lake Mohave and Mohave Valley areas. Mohave County leases the Bullhead City Airport from BLM in 1968 and in 1971 the County subleases a portion of the Bullhead Airport to Bullhead Airport Inc which was a private enterprise which provided Fixed Vased Operation Services. In 1972 ADOT provided a $15,000 grant to aid in an airport improvement project for runway relocation, drainage, marking, lighting and fencing and in 1979 a new 25 year lease for the entire 135 acre airport is negotiated by the county with the newly formed Mohave County Airport Authority. In 1980 Bullhead Airport Inc. sublease is renegotiated and ADOT provides $91,000 to overlay the old aircraft parking apron and extend it to the north. The FBO provioded with $10,000 to make other facility improvements. In 1983 BLM transfers airport property to the State of Arizona and in 1986 the Arizona State Land Department sold propertyu that included the airport parcel to Bullhead Airport Inc through public auction with two stipulations. The first being that the buyer would have to dedicate 433 acres to Mohave County for airport use and the buyer would need to complete a flood control project within two years of land purchase. In 1987 FAA and ADOT grants and entitlements are used to commence construction and Mohave County Airport Authority forms two executive committees, one for Kingman and one for Bullhead /Laughlin.
Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport used to be known simply as the "Bullhead City Airport" until the 1990s, when such airlines as Air Laughlin, Vanguard Airlines, Viscount Air Services and others offered Boeing 737 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9 flights from Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. Reno Air offered McDonnell Douglas MD-80 service there briefly in 1995 and 1996 serving San Jose International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. Most of this air service would be accompanied by hotel packages. For a short period, USAir Express operated DH-8 service to Los Angeles International Airport. FedEx Express became the airport's main cargo airline also during that decade.
In 2002, Sun Country decided to start service to Bullhead City from Minneapolis. The airline ultimately decided to make Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport a hub for the American Southwestern region. In 2004, Ryan International Airlines returned the jet services from the Phoenix area, beginning to fly to Bullhead City from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, using MD-82 airplanes. There was service on Western Express Air to Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (Arizona) and Riverside Municipal Airport (California) but that was discontinued when that airline ceased operations at the end of May 2007.
In 2008, the airport underwent a multi-million-dollar expansion, which increased passenger capacity, and a heightened security system. In the same year, the largest aircraft to visit the airport, a Boeing 747-SP, landed on the recently expanded runway.
In March 2010 the airport hosted "Legends Over the Colorado", an air show with additional displays of an original B-17 from World War II. The plane is part of the Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, a Texas-based nonprofit organization that has fully restored the B-17, Sentimental Journey. Also on display was a T-6 Texan and 4 other warbirds.
More than 115,000 people flew in to Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport on casino-sponsored chartered flights in 2010, however, no larger established commercial airlines are currently utilizing the Laughlin/Bullhead City airport.
On April 9-10, 2011, Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport held the second annual "Legends Over The Colorado". The main attraction was "FIFI", the only flying B-29 in the world along with two P-51 Mustangs, a Japanese Zero, and several other World War II era warbirds.
On July 20th, 2011 marked the grand opening of the new baggage claim building connected to the main terminal.
Read more about this topic: Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport
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—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)