Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport - History

History

South Carolina's first commercial airport was opened in 1927. Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh participated in the grand opening of the airport only months following his historic flight across the Atlantic. Passenger air service commenced that same year but ended in 1962 with the opening of the Greenville-Spartanburg Jetport, later renamed Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. In April 1957 Eastern scheduled six weekday departures, Southern had four and Delta had three.

During World War II the airport was a training facility for the United States Army Air Corp and a refueling stop for naval aviators.

An FAA operated air traffic control tower was operational at the airport but closed in 1981 during the PATCO controllers strike.

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