Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Tucson International Airport lies eight miles south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, and serves as a civil-military field shared with Morris Air National Guard Base and the 162nd Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard. Operated by the Tucson Airport Authority, it is the second busiest airport in Arizona and offers a visiting VFR or IFR pilot a substantial set of runways, full Class C services and a long civil aviation history stretching back to 1919.
Tucson International Airport (KTUS) sits in Pima County, Arizona, about eight miles south of downtown Tucson. It is a civil-military airport owned by the City of Tucson and operated under long-term lease by the Tucson Airport Authority, which also runs the general aviation field at Ryan Airfield. The airport shares its grounds with Morris Air National Guard Base, home to the 162nd Wing, making it a field of mixed civil, military and general aviation traffic that is well worth studying before a visit.
Tucson International sits within Class C airspace, reflecting its status as a busy civil-military field with scheduled airline, military and general aviation traffic. The airport is located roughly eight miles south of downtown Tucson in Pima County, Arizona. Pilots should also be aware of extensive glider and skydiving activity in the surrounding area, and of mountainous terrain nearby.
Tucson International offers three physical runway surfaces, all hard-surfaced and lit. The longest is runway 11L/29R, with declared lengths of 10,984 ft on 11L and 11,746 ft on 29R. A second parallel runway, 11R/29L, offers 6,987 ft on 11R and 8,403 ft on 29L. A crosswind runway, 03/21, provides 6,141 ft on 03 and 6,991 ft on 21. None of the runways is equipped with ILS.
Tucson International is served by a full suite of radio facilities. Approach and departure control operates on 119.4 MHz, the ATIS broadcasts on 123.8 MHz, clearance delivery is available on 126.65 MHz, ground control operates on 124.4 MHz, and the tower frequency is 118.3 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz.
Pilots should note that the airport has been undergoing heavy construction, with taxiways D and A being the only routes available to and from the runways and FBOs during the works; effective November 30, 2023, runway 11R/29L was permanently closed and a new south parallel runway and centre taxiway were under construction, expected to open in 2026. The surrounding area sees regularly scheduled glider and soaring activity from El Tiro Gliderport, located on the Tucson VORTAC 297-degree radial at 31 nautical miles, with much of this activity conducted near the intersection of airways V66 and V105 at altitudes up to but not including FL180. Extensive skydiving activity also takes place in the vicinity, and pilots should be mindful of mountainous terrain around the field.
The airport lies about eight miles south of downtown Tucson, which serves as a useful general reference for inbound VFR traffic. El Tiro Gliderport, on the 297-degree radial from the Tucson VORTAC at 31 nautical miles, is a notable feature to be aware of given the concentration of glider traffic there.
Tucson opened the first municipally owned airport in the United States in 1919. Commercial flights began in 1928 with Standard Airlines, later absorbed into American Airlines, and regular airmail service started in 1930. During the Second World War the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces Air Technical Service Command, and a contract flying school operated there under the USAAF West Coast Training Center from July 1942 until September 1944. In 1948 the Tucson Airport Authority was created as a non-profit corporation to operate the airport, and the field was subsequently relocated to its current site south of Valencia Road, initially operating from three hangars vacated by wartime military manufacturing companies. A new control tower replaced the original wartime wooden structure in 1958. A new terminal, designed by Terry Atkinson, opened on November 15, 1963, complete with an international inspection station, reflecting the airport's genuine international character: Aeronaves de Mexico had begun Douglas DC-6 service to Hermosillo and beyond from 1961, and successor and other carriers, including Aeromexico, Bonanza Air Lines, Air West and Hughes Airwest, operated jet services from Tucson to various Mexican destinations through the 1960s, 1970s and into the late 1980s. The airport saw its first jet flights around September 1960 with American Airlines Boeing 707s and 720s, and later hosted wide-body McDonnell Douglas DC-10s, Airbus A300s and Boeing 767-200s on scheduled services during the 1970s and 1980s. A 1985 remodelling doubled the terminal's size and rebuilt the concourse into separate structures with jet bridges.
Tucson International remains a civil-military airport operated by the Tucson Airport Authority, which also manages the general aviation field at Ryan Airfield. It hosts Morris Air National Guard Base, a 92-acre complex on the airport's northwest corner that is home to the 162nd Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard. The field has been undergoing significant construction work following the permanent closure of runway 11R/29L in November 2023 and the building of a new south parallel runway and centre taxiway, with completion expected in 2026; visiting pilots should expect ongoing changes to taxiway routings and runway configuration during this period. Pilots operating in the vicinity should also be alert to nearby glider and skydiving activity.