Olympia Regional Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) south of the central business district of Olympia, a city in Thurston County and the capital of the U.S. state of Washington. It is owned by the Port of Olympia. It is about one mile (1.6 km) east of Interstate 5, actually within the boundaries of the city of Tumwater which is south of and adjacent to Olympia. The airport was identified in the Washington State Department of Transportation Long Term Aviation Study as a field that could potentially serve to relieve Seattle-Tacoma International Airport of increasing congestion.Olympic Flight Museum is located at the Olympia Airport, and Airlift Northwest, the region's air medical transport service uses the airport as one of its medical helicopter bases. The flight museum and the airport play host to a moderate sized air show each June.The airport's industrial park, 300acre in extent, includes a U.S. Department of Commerce designated Free Trade Zone.HistoryThe airport served as a satellite of nearby McChord Field during World War II, and commercial aviation history at the Olympia Airport extends to the 1920s. The airport now supports large business jets, cargo aircraft, military helicopters and has a backup runway lighting system for uninterrupted operations. Olympia Airport also has an Instrument Landing System and backup power system for operations during bad weather or low visibility.
