Not sure which airport to use when you visit the Grand Canyon? Well, Flagstaff Pulliam is the closest regional airport to South Rim but it’s only served by a few cities in the US, so most people use Phoenix, Las Vegas or even Salt Lake City airports instead. The best airport for you to use will depend on your travel itinerary. Are you only visiting South Rim? Or are you planning a wider road trip?
In this guide we explain what makes each of the 4 closest regional and international airports to Grand Canyon National Park a good option, based on our experiences.
Note: This article contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase using one of these affiliate links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Our Experience

We spent several months driving around the American southwest during separate road trips in 2019 and 2021, so we know the region well from a logistics standpoint. As for the Grand Canyon, we’ve spent 5 full days exploring, hiking and taking photos around South Rim from dawn to dusk in different seasons. It’s one of our favorite places in the US, and here’s our first time visitor Grand Canyon travel guide.
Okay, so if we decided to visit Grand Canyon South Rim tomorrow, which airport would we use? Phoenix because it’s closer than Las Vegas, it’s served by low cost airlines and it has direct flights from most major US cities. Plus, we’d have an option to add a few days in Sedona to our trip. With that said, we’d use Las Vegas instead if we planned to visit places like Zion or Kanab on the same trip. Read more about us.
Tip: Around 90% of all visitors to Grand Canyon National Park only go to South Rim. In this guide we’ll show you distances from each airport to both South Rim and North Rim, but you’ll likely need to focus more on information for South Rim.
1. Flagstaff Regional Airport (FLG), Arizona

Flagstaff Pulliam Regional Airport is the closest airport to Grand Canyon South Rim, so it’s the most convenient option available. However, you can only take non-stop flights to Flagstaff from Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver or Phoenix, and it has no direct international routes. We’d definitely check prices for flights to Flagstaff if we lived in one of those US cities with direct routes.
If you’re visiting South Rim from abroad and want to get as close to the park as possible, you can fly to Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver or Phoenix and take a connecting flight to Flagstaff. But it could end up costing a fair whack and the flight times might not work out. So you’re likely better off using Phoenix or Las Vegas and hiring a car at the airport.
From Flagstaff, you can hire a car or get to South Rim using public transport:
- Amtrak Train – Amtrak (from Flagstaff to Grand Canyon Village)
- Shuttle Bus – Groome Transportation
The train has 2 daily departures (one early and one late) but it’s slow. The shuttle bus only takes 1h 45m and it’s far more convenient because you can book times to suit your arrival times.
Flagstaff Airport To Grand Canyon
- South Rim – 90 miles (1 hour 30 minutes) following I-40 and AZ-64.
- North Rim – 212 miles (3 hours 40 minutes), following US-89, US-89A and AZ-67.
Origin Airports
- Denver
- Dallas/Fort Worth
- Phoenix
Note: Technically, Grand Canyon National Park Airport is the closest airport to South Rim but it’s only served by private jets and charters. So if you have your own plane or a few grand stashed under your mattress, you can fly to within 1 mile of the rim. But 99.99% of us won’t be using that airport!
2. Phoenix International Airport (PHX), Arizona

Phoenix Sky Harbor is the closest major international airport to Grand Canyon South Rim. It’s the best airport to use if you only want to visit South Rim because it’s just a few hours drive away. Plus, it has non-stop flights from most major US cities and it also has some direct international routes.
With that said, we think it’s the most convenient airport option domestically within the US but outside of Canada and Mexico, the only international non-stop routes are through London, Paris and Frankfurt. So if you’re coming into the US from Europe, Australia or Asia to see the Grand Canyon, you’re better off using Las Vegas which has direct flights to more international destinations.
Another reason domestic US visitors might want to use Phoenix over Las Vegas is to spend a few days in Sedona AZ either before or after South Rim. Sedona is one of our absolute favorite places in the US, so definitely give it some consideration.
Phoenix Airport To Grand Canyon
- South Rim – 232 miles (3 hours 35 minutes), following I-17, I-40 and AZ-64.
- North Rim – 355 miles (5 hours 40 minutes), following I-17, US-89, US-89A and AZ-67.
Origin Airports
- US – All major airports and many minor airports
- Canada – Most major airports
- Mexico – Most major airports
- United Kingdom – London
- France – Paris
- Germany – Frankfurt
Need help planning your trip to Grand Canyon?
Our popular Grand Canyon travel guidebook helps you with planning every aspect of your visit to South Rim, including the best viewpoints and hikes, where to eat and stay, itinerary ideas and map!
View Guidebook
3. Las Vegas International Airport (LAS), Nevada

Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport is the most used airport for American southwest road trips. It’s not as close to South Rim as Phoenix, but it’s the ideal start and end point for a loop including South Rim along with many other popular destinations in northern Arizona and southern Utah. And with more time you could even go the other way to see Death Valley.
What we like about Las Vegas as the transport hub for this trip is the amount of itinerary options it opens up. For starters, you could spend a few days ticking off Las Vegas attractions. If that’s not your scene, you could go to any of the following places in addition to the Grand Canyon:
The best part is that Las Vegas is served with non-stop flights from more airports in the US and internationally. It’s also a major low-cost airline hub and it has more flights per day so you’ll probably be able to get better flight times. Overall, we think Las Vegas is the best airport for Grand Canyon South Rim if you also plan to visit other places in the area.
Las Vegas Airport To Grand Canyon
- South Rim – 277 miles (4 hours 10 minutes), following US-93, I-40 and AZ-64.
- North Rim – 273 miles (4 hours 30 minutes), following I-15, UT-59, AZ-389, US-89A and AZ-67.
Origin Airports
- US – All major airports and many minor airports
- Canada – Most major airports
- Mexico – Four airports
- Panama – Panama City
- El Salvador – San Salvador
- Germany – Frankfurt
- France – Paris
- Switzerland – Zurich
- Ireland – Dublin
- United Kingdom – London and Manchester
- Netherlands – Amsterdam
- South Korea – Seoul
- Japan – Tokyo
4. Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), Utah

Salt Lake City International Airport is the final airport we’d consider using to visit the Grand Canyon. Now, you might be wondering why considering it’s so far away. Well, it would make sense to use SLC airport (either on the way in or out) to visit Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef before or after southern Utah and northern Arizona.
Another popular route using Salt Lake City as a central base is to visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton in Wyoming, before driving south to loop around Utah and Arizona’s highlights. That way you can pick up and drop off your hire car at the same place (which is cheaper than different pick up and drop off locations), and see way more in one long trip.
Like the other two major airports, SLC is served by lots of US airports and low cost airlines. It also has a few non-stop international routes so it’s a great all-around option, but only if you also want to see either the Wyoming parks or other parks further north in Utah. If not, do not consider SLC airport because it’s a much longer drive directly to the Grand Canyon.
Salt Lake City Airport To Grand Canyon
- South Rim – 528 miles (8 hours 30 minutes), following I-15, US-89, AZ-67 and AZ-64.
- North Rim – 396 miles (6 hours 15 minutes), following I-15, US-89 and AZ-67.
Origin Airports
- US – All major airports and many minor airports
- Canada – Three airports
- Mexico – Five airports
- Netherlands – Amsterdam
- France – Paris
- United Kingdom – London
- South Korea – Seoul
Grand Canyon North Rim

Okay, so what about North Rim? Well, only 10% of the Grand Canyon’s 4-5 million tourists each year make it to the “other side”. Part of the reason is because it’s only open mid-May through mid-October, whereas South Rim is open year round. We haven’t been to North Rim yet, but we imagine it’s so peaceful compared to the bustling South Rim.
Are you planning to add North Rim to your Grand Canyon itinerary or a wider Utah and Arizona road trip? If so, you might want to consider using St George regional airport because it’s closer than Las Vegas. Now, it doesn’t have many flight routes, times or low cost options but at 2 hours 45 minutes drive time, St George is the closest airport to North Rim.
With that said, we still think Las Vegas is a better option for North Rim because it’s served by more origin airports with better flight times and low cost options. And as mentioned earlier, Las Vegas gives you so many more options to add to your itinerary.
Using Different Airports

Finally, it’s important to consider using different airports at the start and end of your trip. It will likely end up being more expensive to buy two single flight tickets and use different pick up and drop off points for a hire car. But it could make your visit far more efficient.
Here’s a great US southwest road trip itinerary example to show how this could benefit you:
- Fly into Phoenix and hire a car
- Stop in Sedona
- Go to Grand Canyon South Rim
- Drive to Page and Kanab
- Visit Zion and Bryce Canyon
- Go to Capitol Reef
- Drive to Arches and Canyonlands
- Drop the car off and fly out of SLC
After Moab (Arches and Canyonlands), you wouldn’t have to drive all the way back to Phoenix. Instead you’d have a much shorter drive up to Salt Lake City. And you can easily create more mock itinerary routes using each of the three major airports as start and end points. The main factor here will be cost vs efficiency.
Tip: Compare prices for rental cars roundtrip from one airport like Phoenix against picking up at Las Vegas and dropping off at Salt Lake City for example. We book with whoever has the best deal between Rental Cars or Discover Cars.
The Morgan Conclusion

Choosing the best airport to use near Grand Canyon National Park is actually pretty straightforward. Phoenix is the closest major international airport and it will work perfectly for the majority of people taking a short trip to South Rim. Flagstaff might be closer but it has fewer routes and no low-cost airlines.
If you want to visit Zion on the same trip, take a look at Las Vegas for the way in or out. Similarly if you plan to visit Yellowstone on the same trip, you might want to look at Salt Lake City or even Bozeman as another alternative. The take home message is to plan the airports you use around your overall itinerary.

We hope our guide to the airports near Grand Canyon South Rim helps with planning your visit to Arizona!
Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.
Happy Travels,
Mark and Kristen
Find this guide helpful? Pin it for your visit!


All Rights Reserved © Where Are Those Morgans, LLC. Republishing this article and/or any of its contents (text, photography, maps, graphics, etc.) in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.