Tulsa International Airport (TUL) cemented its introduction to nonstop global travel Thursday with the dedication of its $41 million Federal Inspection Services (FIS)-General Aviation (GA) facility.
An estimated 250 people attended the celebration of the new 45,000-square-foot customs facility, which will enable the airport to accommodate direct international flights for the first time.
The airport’s inaugural nonstop global flight will be May 21 to Cancun, Mexico via Sun Country Airlines.
“This milestone did not happen because I thought it would be a good idea or because a member of the airport team thought it would be a good idea,” said Alexis Higgins, CEO of the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust, which operates the airport. “It was because the community came together and rallied behind this decision.”
While U.S. Customs and Border Protection has maintained a presence at the airport for decades, services have been historically limited to clearing international general aviation and cargo operations. The new facility expands capabilities to include commercial passenger processing, which also can be helpful when Tulsa receives unexpected global diverted flights.
“It’s important even for my team when we talk about legacy-building,” Higgins said. “When you drive up to the airport and this is the first building that you see when you approach, all the team members, all the people who are here today know that they played a part of that, and that this building is going to stand here for generations...”
Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols called the project just the first step in nonstop international travel for TUL.
“There are some folks who talk about their communities and to be honest, they are probably lying about how special they are,” he said. “…I don’t have to lie when I talk about Tulsa because everything I say is backed up in a big announcement…There’s something special about living here, and we keep showing it over and over and over and over again.”
Renee McKenney, the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s senior vice president of tourism and president of Tulsa Regional Tourism, described the customs facility as a new gateway to world travelers.
“Tourism is the front door to economic development; visitors spend an average of nearly $4 million a day in Tulsa,” she said. “As interest in our great city continues to grow, more travelers will want to come visit, and now, because of the hard work and forward-thinking of partners like the great group here at the airport, it will be easier for visitors to come see the place that they read about in The Wall Street Journal, saw on the TODAY Show, heard about on The Lowdown... I could go on and on.”
Construction and design partners on the project included Flintco and Narrate Design.
