Source #1
Introduction
Just over a year and a half ago, I made a guide for Montana’s busiest airport - Bozeman Yellowstone! Now we are heading 140 miles east to Montana’s seconf busiest airport - Billings Logan - which also serves as a gateway to Yellowstone National Park which was the United States’ first established park of its kind in 1872 after a signing by president Ulysses Grant. Unofficially, the park currently has 5 gateway airports.
As of writing, Billings airport is the primary airport for Yellowstone, Big Horn, Carbon, Stillwaterand Musselshell counties. It is served by 5 airlines and acts as an operating base for Cape Air whome serves many smaller towns around this part of the state. The airport also hosts four cargo airlines and three flight schools across its 2,500 acres of land atop the Rimrocks.
Table of Contents
- History
- Terminal Information
- Airlines and Destinations
- ATC Information
- Airfield Information
- SID’s / STAR’s
History
Dr. Frank Bell Pre-1927
- Aviation in Billings started two and a half decades before the modern day Logan airport opened, specifically memorial day 1913.
- On this day, local dentist Dr. Frank Bell flew a homeade Curtiss 0-X-5 on a roundtrip flight from Billings to Park City (MT, not the one in Utah), a distance of 40 miles which gained much fanfare by the city. “This historic flight was captured by local artist J.K. Ralston in his painting titled First Flight, which is displayed in the lobby of the Billings Logan International Airport.”
- Until the current airport opened, Airplanes used many unamed fields across the Yellowstone Valley to operate early flying machines.
1927 and the first years of operation
- In 1927 Billings’ city counsel approved a budget of $5000 ($93,903.74 adjusted for inflation in 2026) and a 400 acre (160 hectares) atop the Rims (a 500 ft tall cliffband) on the north side of the city for an airport to be built.
- This first iteration of airport opened on May 29th, 1928 to an excited city that made news across the state! Upon opening, the airport had an 1,820 (550 m) runway, and aministratioon building which would serve as the terminal for less than a decade.
- Commercial airline service began in 1933 with Northwest airlines and by 1935 they were serving the city as a stop on their Chicago - Seattle route aboard the Lockheed 10 Electra.
- In 1937, the airport received the first iteration of runway lights which was a precurser to the new terminal.
In 1939, Inland Air Lines started serving Billings as part of their Denver - Great Falls route. This very rapid increase in commercial service prompted the airport to build an official passenger terminal on North 27th street on the south side of the airport.
1940 - 1960
- In the ealry 1940s, Western Airlines aquired Inland Airlines and through this, in 1944, they began serving Billings as a stopover between Denver and Great Falls aboard the DC3 and Lockheed model 18. In the 50s and 60s, this would be upgaged to the Convair 240 and DC-6B.
- In 1942, the airport passed another milestone by recieved it’s first modern control tower adjacent to the passenger terminal.
- 1950 brought a new airline - Frontier, with DC3 flights to Salt Lake City and Denver! By the early 60s, these flights would be operated by the convair 340, 737-200 and convair 580.
- Not long after Frontier started operating at the airport, it received it’s first ILS runway (10/28).
- In 1957 the airport was renamed from “Billings Municipal Airport” to “Billings Logan FIeld” in 1957 in memory of Dick Logan who was the first Airport Manager.
- Soon after in 1958 the a new expanded terminal opened. Remenants of this can still be seen in the core of the modern day terminal although heavily renovated from it’s orginal state. The following year, a brand new state of the art FAA control tower that replaced completely the first tower that by then had very outdated technology.
1960s and 70s
- These two decades were like none before and saw unprecidented grown compared to the previous 3 decades.
- By this time, Northwest had become the dominant carrrier at the airport and flew multiple Lockheed 188 Electra through Billings as part of the New York - Seattle route which also stopped in Milwaukee, Great Falls, and Yakima. In 1966, the 727-200 joined the Electra. By 1968 it was offering nonstop service to Chicago (O’Hare), Minnapolis, Great Falls and Spokane with many connections on the same airport across the country.
- In 1965 the Air Force Dispersal Base was built at yhe airport and two years later runway 10/28 got a major overall that had become very necessary for the airport to continue operated.
- In 1966 as well, Western upgraded their flights to the same Electra on expanded routing which included Phoenix, Sheridan and San Diego. For a short time, they also operated flights to Calgary Alberta through Great Fall.
- By the late 60s, it was apparent the Jet Age was staying which prompted the airport to be renamed to “Billings Logan International Airport” in 1971 and undergo another terminal expansion in 1972. These big ticket items allowed Western Airlines, and Northwest to switch to all Jet operations.
- In 1974, the airport saw it’s first widebody flights which would ultimately last until about the mid 80s. This year, Northwest started flying the DC10 TriJet on roundtrips that started in Newark and Ended in Seattle. For short while in 1979, these routes were operated oon the 747-200 which to date was the biggest aircraft to ever operate in Billings.
- To handle the 747 and other widebodies that were expected, the ILS runway was expanded to 10,500 ft.
1980 - 2000
- Starting out strong from the gate, 1980 brough the construction and completion of the Executive Hangar Site. A few years later, the airports first official master plane was releasef which outlined many improvements over the next decades which included more improvements to runway 10/28 in 1984, a new crosswind runway (7/25) in 1989, another terminal expansion in the early 90s which brought it to it’s modern day size, an ARFF building and aircraft maintenance hangar and even more ILS improvements at the end of the 1990s.
- By 1983, the number of airlines rised to four when United started serving Billings from Denver Stapelton on the 737-200. By 1985 that number nearly doubled as Big Sky, Centennial and Pioneer began serving the airport; Pioneer operating as Continental Express. Not until 1999 would the numbers double but between 85’ and then, passenger numbers grew steadily each year.
- In 1987, Delta merged with Western, taking over Salt Lake City as a hub. Delta maintained much of the route network from SLC which included the start of their flights to Billings. Currently they operate a mix of regional and mainline aircraft.
- For a very short time in 1989, Big Sky operated a codeshare with Northwest to do flights for Airlink.
- In 1999, Horizon Air began flying the Fokker F28 nonstop to Seattle on behalf of Alaska.
2000s
- As occured everywhere else in the U.S, the events of September 11th brought the creation of the *transportation security administration" which opened a new screening checkpoint at Logan airport in early 2002.
In 2003, constructrion began on a consolodated ATCT and TRACON facility just south of the passenger terminal which opened in 2006. The following year the older tower was torn down.
-By 2003, Horizon Air was serving Billings with CRJ700, Q100,200 and 400. In 2023 after the Q400s retirement, flights have been solely operated on the Embraer E175. - Throughout the 2000s, the airport saw service on America West Express to Las Vegas and Phoenix on the CRJ200 as well as Frontier JetExpress CRJ700 service to Denver.
- From 1978 until 2008, Big Sky had a “hub” in Billings where they based a variety of prop aircraft including the Fairchild Metroliner and Beechcraft 1900D. From BIL they served a pretty extensive network of routes which included my hometown (Jackson Hole), Butte, Sidney, Denver, Jamestown (ND, not to be confused with Virgnia), Seattle, Boise and Wolf Point among others. More Information can be found here about the airline.
- From mid 2007 until early 2009, constructionn was done on taxiways alpha, foxtrot and juilet around the passenger terminal to get rid of chokepoints and make taxi routes more efficient.
- Another merger for Delta, this time the imfamous 2008 one with Northwest. Through this, Delta gained Minneapolis as a hub and maintained NWA’s long successful route from MSP to BIL. Today the route is operated on the A320-200.
2010s
- During the same period as the taxiway construction and for roughly two years after, landside construction was being done to build a round-a-bout at the entrance of the airport to ease traffic.
- Between 2009 and 2012, allegiant operated seasonal MD80 service to Los Angeles from Billings.
- In June 2011, Alaska began Q400 service between Portland and Billings on a seasonal schedule. This flight continues to operate seasonally but is now operated on the E175.
- In 2017, American started serving the airport from Dallas. Since then, flights have also started to Phoenix and Chicago which are operated on a seasonal basis.
- In addition to many new airlines, Billings saw lots of airside and landside improvements during the 2010s to make better the car rental facilities, expanded commerical aprons, and new parking lots, and in 2019, ground broke on a very overdue terminal expansion. In 2020 the first phase was completed which brought new security systems for the termina.
2020s
- In 2020, Allegiant came back to Billings with flights to San Diego which was eventually replaced by Los Angeles in 2024 and again soon after replaced by flights to Las Vegas and Phoenix Mesa instead.
- The new concourse A, TSA checkpoint, EV charging station and foodcourt all opened in 2022.
- In 2024, the new concourse B and entry lobby opened. Following the completion of the terminal expansion, United started service to Billings on the E175 in May 2025, and Sun Country started service to Minneapolis in August 2024.
Terminal Information
As of completion of the terminal expansion, Billings’ terminal has nine gates across two concourses (4 gates on B concourse and 5 on A concourse). From all the internet surfing and watching playbacks of airline arrivals on FR24, I have concluded that all nine gates are common use amongst the 5 airlines operating at KBIL. The airport also offers a respectable amount of ammenities for passengers including a coffee bar, brewary, and food court, as well as 2 gift shops, 4 baggage carosels and many rental car companies.
Currently in Infinite Flight, the released verion of Billings a quite outdated, being what was in operation pre-2021, before construction began on the new concourses. That is as follows: A1 → A3, B1 → B4 and remote stands 1 → 4. Besides the older version of the terminal, the rest of it is pretty up to date and accurate.
Airline and Destinations
| Airline | Destination/s | Aircraft | Misc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | Portland OR, Seattle | E175L | |
| Allegiant Air | Las Vegas, Phoenix/Mesa | A319, A320 | |
| American | Dallas, Seasonal: Chicago, Phoenix | E175 | |
| Cape Air | Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Sidney, Wolf Point | Tecnam P2012. | |
| Delta | Minneapolis, Salt Lake City | A320 | |
| Delta Connection | Salt Lake City | E175 | |
| United | Denver | B737-800, B737-900ER | |
| United Express | Chicago, Denver | E175, CRJ7 |
| Airline | Destination/s | Aircraft | Misc |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPS | Boise,Louisville, Ontario | A300, B757 | |
| Alpine Air Express | Bozeman, Butte, Helena, Kalispell, Great Falls, Cut Bank, Wolf Point, Sidney, Glendive, Miles City, Gillete | BE99, B190 | |
| FedEx | Great Falls | ATR-42 |
Air Traffic Control Information
Billings Airport currently has an FAA control tower that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The airport also has it’s own TRACON facility which offers approach and departure control for the airspace underlying Salt Lake City ARTCC which offers enroute control.
→ BIL - Billings Logan International Airport | SkyVector
→ AirNav: KBIL - Billings Logan International Airport
| Frequency | Name |
|---|---|
| 126.3 | ATIS & ASOS |
| 127.2 | Tower |
| 121.9 | Ground |
| 119.2 & 120.5 | Approach |
| 119.2 & 120.5 | Departure |
| 121.9 | Clearance Delivery |
| 122.95 | Unicom |
Airfield Information
Runways
| Name | Lengh | Material | Edge Lighting | Markings | Traffic Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10L/28R | 10,518 ft (3206 m) | High Intensity | Precision Instrument | Left | |
| 07/25 | 5,501 ft (1677 m) | Medium Intensity | Non-Precision Instrument | Left | |
| 10R/28L | 3,800 (1,158 m) | Medium Intensity | Basic | Left |
Note: Runway 10L has 2 ILS/LOC and 1 RNAV procedure
Note: Runnway 28R has 1 ILS/LOC, 2 RNAV, 1 VOR/DME, and 1 TACAN Prodedure
Note: Runway 07 and 25 each have an RNAV procedure.
Elevation: 3,661 ft msl
Timezone: GMT-7 (UTC -6 during Daylight Saving Time)
FAA Identifier: BIL
ICAO: KBIL
Pattern Altitude: 4,670
Class: Towered Charlie airspace
Beacon: White-green
Airport Use: Public
F.S.S: Great Falls
Coordinates: N45°48.47’ / W108°32.61’
