Bend Airport Opens First Control Tower
The $15 million, 115-foot tower is the first built in Oregon since 2015 and fills a gap at Bend Municipal Airport, which previously lacked air traffic control.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Air Travel
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Bend Municipal Airport opened a new air traffic control tower costing $15 million. The 115-foot structure is the first control tower built in Oregon since 2015 and is Bend's tallest building.
Why it matters
Before the tower, Bend Airport operated in uncontrolled airspace, requiring pilots to coordinate directly with each other. The tower will organize traffic flow and provide safe separation of aircraft, and Bend Airport was the only one of Oregon's five largest airports without a tower.
The tower includes a 200kW standby generator, a fire suppression system, and a pressurized stairwell. Redmond Airport, the nearest comparison, handles more than 140,000 takeoffs and landings each year.
The players
Bend Municipal Airport
The regional airport serving Bend, Oregon, which operated without a control tower until this project.
Federal Aviation Administration
The federal agency that regulates U.S. civil aviation and was one of the partners in building the tower.
Morrison-Maierle
An engineering and design firm that served as lead engineer and designer on the control tower project.
The details
Construction took just over two years and was carried out by a partnership including the City of Bend, the FAA, the State of Oregon, and Deschutes County, with Morrison-Maierle as lead engineering and design firm. The project is financed through federal and state grants and airport revenue.
Timeline
Construction of the control tower began just over two years before opening.
The grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on November 10, 2026.
Travel Outlook
The tower follows a federal and state funding model that has been used to add traffic control at smaller airports. Bend's project is notable because it closes a gap that left the city's airport as the only one of Oregon's five largest without a control tower.
Travelers flying into or out of Bend Municipal Airport will now have controlled airspace managing aircraft separation. The tower's 360-degree view coverage supports safer coordination for pilots operating at the airport.
The takeaway
Adding a control tower gives a regional airport structured oversight of its traffic, a change that matters most for pilots and passengers using Bend's airport as capacity grows. The project shows how federal, state, and local partners can share costs to close infrastructure gaps.
Further reading
For more on how air traffic is managed at regional airports, see Air Travel coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Cascade Business News.
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