Tucson International Airport

When Charles “The Bird Man” Hamilton landed his Curtis Bi-Plane on the bank of the Santa Cruz River in 1910, it ignited an excitement in aviation here. Tucson built the country’s first municipal airport in 1919 on Nogales highway, where the rodeo grounds are today.  By 1925, the airport had relocated to a larger site and Charles Lindbergh himself would land here to dedicate the new field.  By 1927, Tucsonans received their first commercial air service.  The War Department took a large part of the airport in the 1940s, morphing it into the current site of Davis Monthan Air Force Base. The city bought the land for the current airport in 1941 and the Tucson Airport Authority took over operation in 1948. That iconic tower? Added in 1958. Today’s TUS boasts an $8.3 billion impact in the region. It’s award-winning for its cleanliness and safety and was named No. 1 in seat capacity growth among the top 30 airports in the western U.S.

PHOTO COURTESY TUCSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT