Dalton Municipal Airport

The city of Dalton, which is in Whitfield County, Georgia, is home to the publicly owned Dalton Municipal Airport, which is six miles southeast of the city's core business center. A crucial connection between nearby businesses and their suppliers and consumers is provided by the general aviation airport known as Dalton Municipal Airport. Among many other uses, the airport accommodates flights by collegiate sports teams, federal and state governments, police enforcement, fire brigades, corporate business aircraft, and military aircraft operating year-round for the purpose of transporting personnel and essential equipment. Private pilots who take off for leisure also frequently originate at this airport.

Built in 1930, the initial airstrip in Dalton was a grass strip next to the present-day Cleveland Highway and Dalton Bypass intersection.  Over time, other airfields featuring grass landing strips were established. These included the 1944 opening of a grass airfield at the present Dalton Municipal Airport and the 1948 opening of the "Mountain VIew" strip next to Ford dealership on Shugart Road near I-75. FAA restrictions required the buildings and hangars to be shifted away from the runway as the airport expanded. The old T-hangars were demolished and twenty new ones constructed in 2007.

Covering 554 acres, the Dalton Municipal Airport is situated on land owned by the city. The runway measures 5500 feet long by 100 feet wide, with a parallel taxiway that is 50 feet wide along the whole length of the runway. The runway has high-intensity illumination controlled by the pilot, satellite-based approaches, automated weather observation systems, precise paint markings, and a revolving beacon with LED lights. It also has precision ground-based approaches with guidance in both horizontal and vertical directions.

The Dalton Municipal Airport is one of the main entry points to the outside environment. Over thirty foreign businesses call Dalton home, some of which have their North American headquarters there. A lot of these companies use the Dalton Airport as a tool to maintain their profitability and efficiency. This assistance includes broadening their customer and supplier base, granting entry for in-person visits, and enabling just-in-time air shipments of components and supplies to maintain manufacturing. Georgia's economy greatly benefits from its airports. The daily operations connected to the airport's management role, the operations of aviation-related company tenants at the airport, effects of the average yearly capital investment, and the expenses incurred by visitors arriving via airport's annual economic impacts.