One of a number of interpretive displays at the Museum of Flight and inside the T. Evans Wyckoff Memorial Bridge reads:
The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Puget Sound's New Airport
The Seattle-Tacoma Airport, about 6 miles south from the Museum (watch for air traffic flying overhead to the south), was constructed by the Port of Seattle in 1944 to serve the civilian air traffic of the region after the U.S. military took control of Boeing Field for use in World War II.
To build the airport, the Port received funding from the Civil Aeronautics Administration and from the City of Tacoma and construction began on January 2, 1943. The first landing strips were completed in October 1944, scheduled commercial flights started in 1947, and a modern terminal opened on July 9, 1949. The word "international" was added to the name of the airport in that same year with the beginning of Northwest Airlines' direct service to Tokyo.
Expanding Sea-Tac
To properly serve the air-traffic needs of western Washington's growing population, there have been numerous expansions of the airport during its 65-year history.
the latest and most controversial expansion is the addition of the third runway.
Approximately, 30 million passengers use the Sea-Tac airport each year.