MBS International Airport
MBS International Airport
MBS International Airport (IATA: MBS, ICAO: KMBS, FAA LID: MBS), located in Freeland, Michigan, is a commercial and general aviation airport serving the nearby cities of Midland, Bay City, and Saginaw. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a non-hub primary commercial service facility. MBS was formerly named Tri-City Airport or Freeland Tri-City Airport, reflecting the “Tri-Cities” nickname of the region. The airport was renamed MBS International Airport in 1994 (representative of its IATA airport code) to prevent confusion with other airports named "Tri-City Airport" across the United States. While owned by three municipalities, the IATA and FAA city name associated with the airport is Saginaw, i.e. the control tower is known to pilots as "Saginaw Tower". The commercial airport is a special municipal body owned by Bay County and the cities of Midland and Saginaw. The airport's name is an initialism formed from the names of these three communities and it is governed by a nine-member commission made up of three members from each of them. In October 2012, MBS opened a new $55 million six-gate terminal to replace the old three-gate terminal, which was built in 1965. The construction on this project was completed nearly a year ahead of schedule. The old terminal, which sat empty since October 2012, was demolished in 2017.
Location
43.533°N, 84.083°O · 204 m s. n. m. (668 ft)
General data
Runways · 2
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
Radio frequencies · 7 Official publication
Tower
Ground
Clearance delivery
ATIS (automatic information)
Approach
UNICOM
Frequencies from the official publication: FAA NASR, AIRAC 01 OCT 2026, checked on Oct 16, 2026. They change with each amendment: not for navigation without checking the current AIP. See the official publication In MHz.
History
In March 1942, the cities of Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland purchased 640 acres (2.6 km2) of land for the construction of an airport for $85,000 (equivalent to $1,700,000 in 2025), with the cost divided between each city based on their population. During World War II, the federal government commandeered the airport land to use as an army air base and prisoner of war camp. Construction of the runways, the purchase of additional land to expand the airport to 1,388 acres (5.62 km2), and general improvements was performed by the federal government. After the war, the airport was turned over to the local governments. Civilian control of the airport resumed on June 1, 1946.
The airport operated with the old Army barracks being used as the administration building until January 30, 1955, when a new $190,0000 (equivalent to $2,300,000 in 2025) terminal building was completed. The current terminal on the north side of the air field opened on October 31, 2012. The 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m2) terminal, which replaced an older terminal on the west side of the air field, was designed by RS&H and cost $55 million. The Airport Commission approved plans for the construction of the state-of-the-art passenger terminal in 2006, with construction beginning in 2008. Airport officials hope the terminal will bring more airlines and more competition to MBS.
Air Force One landed at the airport twice during the 2004 United States presidential election for nearby rallies in support of George W. Bush. It landed again on September 10, 2020 for a campaign speech by then President Donald Trump, and most recently on March 14, 2024 for a campaign visit by President Joe Biden. Air Force One also visited the airport in 1974 when then President Richard M. Nixon made a speech at the airport and arrived to give endorsement to James Sparling, a Congressional candidate. Air Force Two also made an appearance in 1992 when Vice President Dan Quayle spoke from a hangar the day before the 1992 presidential election.
What flies here
From our own logbook: 170 aircraft documented between 2010 and 2025.
Types seen here
Airlines with documented aircraft
Busiest routes from here
A count of our own aircraft profiles, year by year, from the public United States flight records: it reflects what we have documented, not the airport’s total traffic.
Airlines operating here · 2
Other airlines with direct routes
Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).
Photo: Sanibel sun · CC0 · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 16, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 16). MBS International Airport (MBS). Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MBS
MLA
“MBS International Airport (MBS).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 16 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MBS. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “MBS International Airport (MBS).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 16, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MBS.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) MBS International Airport (MBS). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MBS (Accessed: 17 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_mbs,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{MBS International Airport (MBS)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-16},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MBS},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MBS}},
urldate = {2026-10-17},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-17}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/MBS |title=MBS International Airport (MBS) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-16 |access-date=2026-10-17 |language=en}}