Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport

The first airport in Savannah, Hunter Field, opened in 1929. Increased military presence in 1940 (in anticipation of WWII) caused the city to decide to build a second airport. Six hundred acres were purchased near Cherokee Hill, and construction began under a Works Progress Administration project, with three runways at 3,600 feet each. Prior to its completion in 1942, the U.S. Army Corps took over the new airport and began additional construction. Naming it Chatham Field, it was used as a bomber base and for crew training (on B-24 bombers and fighter aircraft). The airport was turned over to the Georgia National Guard in 1948, and it was renamed Travis Field (in honor of Savannah Brigadier General Robert F. Travis and his brother Colonel William Travis, who were killed in a crash of a B-29 bomber in California). A new control tower and airline terminal were built to accommodate civilian flights. A new six-gate terminal opened in 1960, and in 1962 the east-west runway was extended to 9,000 feet. In 1965 jets began servicing the airport, with Delta Air Lines Douglas DC-9-10s. A Grumman Aircraft manufacturing plant was built in 1967. Despite the lack of international flights at the time, the airport was renamed the Savannah International Airport in 1983 (and was again renamed the Savannah/Hilton International Airport in 2003). In 1994 the terminal building from 1960 was replaced by a new eight-gate terminal (at the cost of $21 million), still in use today. As part of the project, new roads, a new taxiway apron, stormwater ponds, landscaping, and a new interchange at I-95 for entry to the airport were all constructed at $68.5 million. Nonstop international flights took place through Key Airlines, with destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean. However, by 1993 the airline was experiencing financial difficulties and ceased all flights. In July 2007, the terminal was expanded, with five departure gates added. Furthermore, 1,700 parking spaces were added to a $35 million parking garage completed that same year. In 2017 international service resumed, with seasonal Air Canada flights to Toronto.
 

The airport is located eight miles northwest of the Savannah Historic District.

• 3,680 feet west of Runway 10 are two gravestone markers, the only such runway in the U.S. Federal law prohibits the moving of a grave without permission of the next of kin. As the graves date back to 1857, the next of kin could not be located; the graves were left undisturbed yet marked within the runway. 
• The airport is highly acclaimed, named #1 Best Domestic Airport by Travel+Leisure World's Best Awards 2022, which was decided by a survey of its readers (a distinction it earned for the second year in a row). Readers of Condé Nast Traveler also ranked it the best U.S. airport for three years in a row. 
• U.S. Customs is on the field, and the airport is part of a Foreign Trade Zone. 
• SAV is planning on expanding the gates to 19, the TSA screening area from four lanes to six, and expanding parking, car rental facilities, and cargo capabilities.