The airport was declared a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), allowing special customs procedures. In 1992 the airport was equipped with on-call customs and immigrations facilities provided through the Port of Panama City and was designated as an international airport and renamed Panama City–Bay County International Airport. In 1948 commercial scheduled passenger airline operations began. In 1943 the Florida legislature approved the formation of an airport authority, the Panama City–Bay County Airport and Industrial District, to manage Fannin Field, or Panama City–Bay County Airport, as it became known. Through World War II the airport was a Civil Air Patrol facility, the location of Coastal Patrol Base 14. After the expansion was completed, the airport was renamed Fannin Field in honor of Panama City's then-mayor, Harry G. The facility's $604,000 development project included the construction of a small passenger terminal and two 4,000-foot (1,200 m) intersecting runways. In 1938 Panama City and the Bay County Commissioners joined forces to develop the airport through the construction of an airport terminal and extensive airfield expansion.

At that time the airport was named Atkinson Field. In 1932 Atkinson and his wife donated the property to the Panama City Chamber of Commerce so a city airport could be established. The facility had 292 acres (1.2 km 2) of land with grass landing strips. Panama City–Bay County International Airport (PFN) began as a private field owned by J.B. The grounds will eventually be turned over to LUK-MB1 LLC, which plans to remove the runways and build homes, shops, walking trails and a marina.

All airline services moved to the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport on May 22, 2010, but the airfield was open to general aviation aircraft until October 1, 2010. It was owned and operated by the Panama City–Bay County Airport and Industrial District. Panama City–Bay County International Airport ( IATA: PFN, ICAO: KPFN, FAA LID: PFN) was a public airport 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Panama City, in Bay County, Florida.

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