Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Grand Canyon National Park Airport (KGCN) sits at Tusayan, Arizona, a few miles south of the South Rim entrance to the Grand Canyon, and is the primary gateway for scenic air tours, charter flights and general aviation visiting the canyon. Owned and operated by the Arizona Department of Transportation, it is the only state-owned airport in Arizona and handles a high volume of tour traffic alongside occasional scheduled service. Pilots flying here operate within Class D airspace immediately adjacent to the heavily regulated Grand Canyon Special Flight Rules Area to the north.
Grand Canyon National Park Airport is a state-owned, public-use airport at Tusayan, Arizona, close to the South Rim entrance of Grand Canyon National Park. It is operated by the Arizona Department of Transportation and is the only state-owned airport in Arizona. The field is dominated by air tour operations, with a smaller proportion of general aviation and a token amount of military traffic, making it a distinctive and busy destination for visiting pilots keen to see the canyon from the air.
The airport lies within Class D airspace at Tusayan, Arizona, about seven miles south of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and roughly two miles from the park's south entrance, just off Highway 64. Immediately to the north of the Class D airspace lies the Grand Canyon Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA), which is highly regulated and restricted; two-way communication with the tower does not by itself grant permission to enter this airspace. Pilots planning a flight to GCN should expect to remain within Class D unless otherwise directed and to undertake careful pre-flight planning for any onward transit of the SFRA corridors.
The airport has a single physical runway, 03/21, 8,983 feet long with a hard surface and runway lighting. The 03 end is equipped with an ILS approach.
Canyon Tower provides the tower service on 119.0 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF. Ground control operates on 121.9 MHz. ATIS and ASOS weather information is broadcast on 124.3 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Prescott Radio, a flight service station, can be reached on 122.3 MHz, and Los Angeles Center covers the overlying airspace on 124.85 MHz.
VFR arrivals should contact the tower between 10 and 20 miles from the airport to receive pattern entry instructions. All pattern turns are expected to be made within the Class D airspace unless the tower directs otherwise. Aircraft departing with the intention of transiting the SFRA corridors to the north should expect a southbound departure with a climb to the appropriate altitude before proceeding.
The airport lies immediately south of the small community of Tusayan on Highway 64, with the South Entrance Gate to Grand Canyon National Park under two miles to the north, providing a clear visual reference for pilots approaching from the south.
The original Grand Canyon Airport was a landing field authorised by the United States Forest Service, opening for commercial flights in 1928 near Red Butte, about 7.6 miles southwest of the present site, and operating there until 1965. The current airport opened for business in October 1965, with its terminal completed and formally dedicated on 20 October 1967. Over the following decades the field saw scheduled jet and turboprop service from a succession of carriers, including Bonanza Air Lines, Air West, Hughes Airwest, Republic Airlines, TriStar Airlines and Scenic Airlines, connecting Grand Canyon with cities such as Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles; scheduled passenger flights ceased in 2008 but resumed in 2023 with a daily Cessna 208 Caravan service. In 2025 the airport temporarily closed for a runway rehabilitation project, a $12 million scheme that resurfaced the runway, reconfigured a taxiway intersection and updated markings and signage, work that led to the airport being named the 2026 ADOT Airport of the Year.
Today the airport is heavily used for scenic air tours, which account for the large majority of its traffic, alongside general aviation and a small amount of military activity; around 46 aircraft, including single and multi-engine types and helicopters, are based there. It remains the only state-owned airport in Arizona, operated by the Arizona Department of Transportation, and continues to serve as the principal air gateway to the Grand Canyon's South Rim, with long-established operators such as Grand Canyon Airlines based on the field since 1927.
