Departure
93%
vs 95% ▼ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Bellingham International Airport lies three miles northwest of Bellingham, Washington, close to the Canadian border, and serves as a lower-cost alternative to Vancouver International for travellers from both sides of the frontier. Operated by the Port of Bellingham, the field retains a single long hard-surfaced runway, 16/34, equipped with an ILS, and hosts a mix of scheduled airline, general aviation and corporate traffic. Its history stretches back to Depression-era public works construction and wartime military use, making it a field with genuine depth for the visiting simulator pilot.
Bellingham International Airport (KBLI) is a Port of Bellingham-operated field three miles northwest of the city of Bellingham in Whatcom County, Washington. It is best known as a low-fare alternative to Vancouver International Airport, drawing a large share of its passengers from across the nearby Canadian border, and today hosts Allegiant Air, Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air and San Juan Airlines alongside general aviation and corporate traffic. For a sim pilot it offers a single long, well-equipped ILS runway, a tower-controlled environment, and a layout that still bears the marks of its wartime three-runway origins.
The airport sits at 48.7927 N, 122.538 W, three miles northwest of Bellingham in Whatcom County, Washington, roughly 90 miles north of Seattle and about 20 miles south of the Peace Arch border crossing at Blaine, Washington. It is a tower-controlled aerodrome, with Victoria Approach/Departure and Seattle Radio both listed among its working frequencies, reflecting its position close to the US-Canada border and the Vancouver terminal area.
The airport has a single physical runway, 16/34, 6,706 feet long with a hard, lit surface and an ILS serving runway 16. Bellingham was originally built with three runways during the Second World War, but only 16/34 was resurfaced by the Port of Bellingham after it acquired the airport in 1957; the other two, 12/30 and 2/20, were closed in 1986 and 1997 respectively and their eastern ends now survive only as taxiways linking the aprons to the remaining runway. Field elevation is 164 feet.
Bellingham Tower operates on 124.9 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF; ground movements are handled on 127.4 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 134.45 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Seattle Radio can be reached on 122.15 MHz, and Victoria Approach/Departure is listed on 132.7 MHz for arrivals and departures in the wider terminal area. Runway 16 is served by an ILS.
Planning for an airport at Bellingham began under the Works Progress Administration in late 1935, and Whatcom County purchased 200 acres from Charles F. Larrabee in October 1936 to build the field with WPA funds. The first runway, 3,600 feet long, was dedicated on 1 June 1940. In 1940 the US Army Corps of Engineers took over the project, expanding it to three full runways with aircraft revetments and personnel quarters. The airport opened to the public on 7 December 1941, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor, and was seized by the military three days later. During the Second World War it was used by Fourth Air Force for Pacific coast air defence, and by Air Transport Command and Air Technical Service Command as an intermediate ferrying field for Lend-Lease aircraft bound for Alaska and onward transfer to the Soviet Union. The US Army Air Forces closed the facility in September 1946 and it passed to the War Assets Administration before being redeveloped as a civil airport in the late 1940s; a terminal designed by F. Stanley Piper was built by United Airlines in anticipation of civilian use. Whatcom County sold the airport to the Port of Bellingham for one dollar in 1957, after which only the longest runway, 16/34, could be resurfaced; the other two runways were later closed, in 1986 and 1997. Scheduled air service began modestly with Harbor Airlines' shuttle flights to Seattle-Tacoma in small Britten-Norman Islanders, followed by San Juan Airlines with Embraer Bandeirantes and Cessna 402s. Pacific Southwest Airlines introduced the airport's first jet service in 1985 with McDonnell Douglas MD-80s, and Alaska Airlines, USAir and later Horizon Air went on to operate nonstop and connecting jet services from the field.
Bellingham International remains a full-service commercial airport under Port of Bellingham management, handling scheduled airline, general aviation and corporate traffic. Allegiant Air operates from the field, with its base there scheduled to end in November 2026, while Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air continues nonstop service to Seattle-Tacoma, and San Juan Airlines is based at the airport. The field also handles international arrivals with customs facilities on site.
