Scottsdale Airport Sees 2,000th U.S. Customs and Border Protection Visitor Processed – New Record

The Scottsdale Airport celebrated a new record for processing international aircraft last week with its 2,000th flight completed during this Federal fiscal year (Oct. 1 – Sept. 30, 2022).

If this pace keeps up, especially as the airport enters its higher operational months, the city projects ending the year with about 2,090 aircrafts. This is leaps and bounds ahead of the 490 aircraft processed in 2012/13. Scottsdale has offered U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through a user fee service since 2000.

“Scottsdale Airport is a viable customs processing destination,” says Gary P. Mascaro, aviation director. “We strive to offer a great customer service experience, which is made possible thanks to our partnership with CBP.”

The bulk of users into Scottsdale originate from Canada and Mexico, but Scottsdale serves as a gateway to visitors from all over the world.

Through the years, new initiatives have been implemented: the Customs service hours and days were expanded, we added an additional Officer to meet the demand, and an online payment system was recently activated. Since executing these initiatives, there has been a steady increase in CBP’s processing over the years.

“The historic number of international flights processed at Scottsdale Airport demonstrates the successful partnership between U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Scottsdale Airport.” says Port Director Chris Leon. “CBP looks forward to supporting the growth of international trade and travel, a great benefit to the U.S. economy.”

The mother and daughter duo (pictured above) are the 2,000th user and arrived into Scottsdale from Calgary, Canada. They were surprised with a gift basket filled with Scottsdale Airport goodies and a Volanti Restaurant and Lounge gift card.

Kim Stevens

Kim Stevens is the publisher of State Aviation Journal, which he founded in 2009. A longtime commercial-rated pilot, he was introduced to state aviation in 1992 as Director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, later serving as Deputy Division Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division. From 2013 to 2018, he was Director of Communications and Operations for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in Washington, D.C. Relocating to North Carolina, Kim worked for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for two years and now concentrates solely on the Journal. Prior to his aviation career, Kim spent a decade in the newspaper and magazine business.