Great Bend Municipal Airport is five miles west of Great Bend, in Barton County, Kansas. It is used for general aviation and sees one airline, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.The Federal Aviation Administration says this airport had 1,407 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 927 in 2009, and 719 in 2010. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation airport (the commercial service category requires 2,500 enplanements per year).HistoryDuring World War II the facility was Great Bend Army Airfield and was used for United States Army Air Forces Second Air Force training. It was one of the first B-29 Superfortress bases, used to organize XXI Bomber Command before it deployed to the Western Pacific in 1944. It was closed during the late 1940s and turned over to civil control.The airport is the site of the 1955 National Hot Rod Association U.S. Nationals, the first nationwide NHRA drag racing event.
