In January 2008 a quick service restaurant, Tailwind Express, was added in the post-security area of the airport along with the Tailwind Restaurant and Lounge in the pre-security area. The first jets were Piedmont Boeing 727-100s and Southern Douglas DC-9-10s in 1967 in 1977 a Piedmont Boeing 737-200 was flying nonstop to New York LaGuardia Airport.

Piedmont Airlines flew to TRI from 1948 until it merged into USAir Capital Airlines and successor United Airlines stopped at TRI from the 1940s until 1977 when Allegheny Airlines replaced them. On November 5, 1937, McKellar Field, now known as Tri-Cities Airport TN/VA, was dedicated by Senator Kenneth McKellar. In September 1937, two small runways, a terminal building, and aircraft hangar had been built and the airport saw its first airliner, an American Airlines DC-2. Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport cooperated with Sullivan County to build an airport on 323 acres in Sullivan County, between the three cities. In the mid-1930s Johnson City's airfield and Kingsport's airstrip were deemed not practical for expansion. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).

The airport is governed by the Tri-Cities Airport Authority (TCAA) whose members are appointed by the cities of Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol (TN), Bristol (VA) and both Washington County (TN) and Sullivan County (TN).įederal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 202,730 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 217,783 in 2009 and 202,114 in 2010. It serves the Tri-Cities area ( Bristol, Kingsport, Johnson City) of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. Tri-Cities Airport ( IATA: TRI, ICAO: KTRI, FAA LID: TRI) (also known as Tri-Cities Airport, TN/VA), is in Blountville, Tennessee, United States.

Tri-cities, tn airport