Most travelers probably assume airports are privately owned.
After all, they’re packed with airlines, restaurants, shops, parking garages, and enough economic activity to rival a small city.
But in the United States, nearly every commercial airport is owned by some form of government. In fact, there’s only one exception.
U.S.-based commercial airports
Throughout most of the rest of the world, it’s been the trend that commercial airports have become privatized. However, nearly all airports in the U.S. that have scheduled passenger airline service are currently owned by a government entity – either the federal, city or county government or by a regional airport authority that’s a part of the local government.
Owned, but not run, by the government
Although all (but one – we’ll get to that in a moment) are owned by various forms of government, they’re not all run by those governments.
For example, the 2 “big” airports in NYC, John F. Kennedy & LaGuardia, are owned by the City of New York, and, across the Hudson River, the third big airport in the area, Newark-Liberty International Airport, is jointly owned by the New Jersey cities of Elizabeth and Newark. But all 3 of those airports are leased to and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
As another example, Terminal 5 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is managed by a private firm.
The one exception to this is Branson Airport, the only privately owned, privately operated commercial service airport in the country.
How do they do that?
Branson Airport is essentially self-owned. As part of the negotiations to create the airport, obtain financing and reduce liability, Branson Airport, LLC had to “gift” the land they owned to Taney County, Missouri in order to lease and operate the airport privately. So although the land Branson Airport is on is owned by the government, the airport itself is privately owned (it’s owned by itself).
What about the U.S. airports that aren’t commercial airports?
Not surprisingly, most military airports are owned and operated by the federal government.
Most general aviation airports (read: small, local airports that accept privately-owned personal or business planes) are private, and are owned either by a single owner, a private company, or an association made up of those who own hangars or other facilities at the airport.
The next time you’re walking through an airport, it’s worth remembering that despite all the airline counters, restaurants, shops, parking garages, and advertising, the airport itself probably isn’t a private business.
In fact, there’s an overwhelming chance it’s owned by a city, county, state agency, or regional airport authority and operated under a unique mix of public and private partnerships.
That’s one reason airports can feel so different from one another. While airlines may come and go, each airport is shaped by the government entity that owns it, the authority that manages it, and the businesses that lease space inside.
And if you’re looking for the exception to the rule? For now, that distinction belongs to Branson Airport—the only privately owned and privately operated commercial service airport in the United States.
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