Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) is a service of the Broward County Board of County Commissioners. FLL is ranked 21st in the United States and serves more than 23 million passengers annually. FLL offers 268 daily flights to the US, Canada, Caribbean, and Latin America.
FLL was originally established as the Merle Fogg Field on May 1, 1929.
The airport was named for a World War I aviator who moved to Fort Lauderdale in the 1920s to begin his own flying service. The airfield became Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station (NAS) in 1942. The U.S. Navy constructed three main runways and built a control tower as a training facility during World War II.
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Fort Lauderdale Daily News December 1945 |
TBN Avengers circa 1945 |
In 1943, Ensign George H. W. Bush, arrived at NAS Fort Lauderdale to train as a pilot. He would become the Navy’s youngest pilot and later the nation's 41st President.
In January of 1948, Broward County assumed control of the facility, and in 1953, the county formally took ownership. Three years later, Mackey Airlines would introduce FLL's first scheduled airline service.
Read more history.