While gorgeous beaches, family attractions and stellar accommodations have long made Panama City Beach a popular drive destination, the addition of the Panama City – Bay County International Airport is expected to open the region to a worldwide audience and allow for lower travel fares and easier access for domestic and international travelers. The airport will also offer a 10,000-foot runway, the only one of this length in Northwest Florida. The length of the runway is designed to allow larger jets and commercial aircraft of any size to be able to land more easily.

The Panama City - Bay County Airport and Industrial District Authority aims to make its terminal the first in the nation certified to LEED standards under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program of the U.S. Green Building Council. Among the terminal’s environmentally sensitive features: rooftop louvers to admit sunlight, a state-of-the-art storm water management system, sustainable materials and a landscaping plan requiring no supplemental irrigation. The terminal will showcase Panama City Beach’s natural beauty with an interior courtyard and soaring, glass window walls to bring views of nature indoors.

The airport will be developed in conjunction with a nature preserve that will include Florida’s largest expanse of undeveloped coastline. The refuge, called the West Bay Preservation Area, will protect 40,000 acres around the West Bay, including 33 miles of undeveloped shoreline and an additional 44 miles of tributaries and creeks. It will provide permanent protection for the area’s water quality, biodiversity and natural beauty. Travelers and locals here will enjoy large expanses for hiking, fishing and bird watching.