Ketchikan International Airport (KTN) — Local services in Gravina Island

Ok what am I missing? I have nothing against this cute little airport which services 10 Alaska airlines flights a day. Clean, friendly, 5 stars.

Here’s what I don’t get; the airport is on its own island- literally nothing here ( source: Sarah Palin’s bridge to nowhere) but the airport- so you need to take a ferry to/ from town. Which is fair, build where you have the land.

But the ferry only runs twice an hour & costs $6 each way. You pay on the airport side no matter which direction you’re going and there is ONE person taking payment- for people and cars going in both directions. So you wait for the ferry, the ride itself takes like 4 minutes, but then you stand in line for 20 minutes to pay. Meanwhile there are at least 6 machines to pay for parking.

Why aren’t there FERRY ticket machines and one guy taking tickets? Or even better, why isn’t the $12 round trip built into your fare? And finally, why am I the only one who thinks...

Efficient operation for the community it serves. You must take a $6 per pedestrian ferry to access the airport or return to main island (free return trip on same day if you show your reciept). The process leaving the airport is straight forward (pay toll as you get on boat), however the process arriving at the airport is a little convoluted how you pay/show reciept when you get off the boat. The woman working the booth was a little snippy when a group of out-of-towner's wasn't familiar with the process. My advice is to stay back and let some locals go through first.

TSA was very simple, there at 2 gates, a gift shop, a concession stand, and a bar past security. There is essentially no waiting from the time you walk through the door to your gate, but the ferry does slow things down.

I was able to access the main part of town (and return) from the ferry landing...

Very cool airport and insanely easy to navigate. With only two gates, the terminal was super small but still had a nice gift shop, watering hole, and shop that serves food and drinks. One of the coolest parts is the airport is on island West of Ketchikan and you have to take a ferry to get over to town. We rented a car from Budget and while I was getting our keys, we were able to buy passes for ourselves and the car (plus passes to return). The ferry ride only takes a few minutes but it was such a fun experience. Coming back to check in for our flight was equally a breeze. There was nobody else on the ferry and when we went inside, we were the only ones going through the check-in process and security. It was a late flight so the gift shop was closed, but we could still get...