Already in 2009, the number of people departing Bozeman Airport - Gallatin Field (BZN), Belgrade, Montana, has surpassed all previous records...
...so the present 28,000 sf, $30 million, Phase III expansion of the Gallatin Valley's airport, designed by Bozeman's Prugh and Lenon Architects, comes at the perfect time to accommodate the apt projection that Bozeman's yearly air traffic will continue increasing at the rate of 5 percent each year well into the next decade. 
Gallatin Field, services Bozeman, Belgrade, Big Sky, and a good portion of the southwest Montana region. Presently, Montana's Gallatin Valley region continues to grow and, according to October 2009 figures, Gallatin Valley and Bozeman's unemployment hovers around 5.5%.
In 2008, two carriers into Bozeman, Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines, increased the number of travelers to Bozeman and southwest Montana with their Las Vegas and Denver flights. Beginning Dec. 17, 2009 United begins seasonal non-stop service to San Francisco's International Airport (this seasonal service will end March 27, 2010.) United Express has also added a nonstop, service to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD).
Gallatin Field's constant flow of corporate and cargo planes, four air flight schools (including a helicopter flight school), and rising private jet traffic are what keeps Bozeman's regional airport, and a large number of Bozeman area residents, employed. Gallatin Airport employs over 400 people through almost 30 companies whose offices reside right at Gallatin Field.
According to the Gallatin Airport Authority, which oversees Bozeman's airport operations, the new expansion will add four gates to the existing five, for a total of 9 gates, which will still leave additional space for future population growth in and increased tourism into the Bozeman region.
Question: Whose plane was the first and only 747 ever to land at Bozeman's Gallatin Field Airport?
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