Willow Run Airport (IATA: YIP, ICAO: KYIP) is an airport located in Van Buren Charter Township and in Ypsilanti Township, near Ypsilanti, Michigan, that serves freight, corporate, and general aviation clients. Managed by the Wayne County Airport Authority, Willow Run Airport is located seven miles west of Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Originally constructed in 1941 to field-test B-24 bombers for W
orld War II as they rolled off Henry Ford’s assembly line, Willow Run Airport became home to what was then the largest bomber plant in the world. In less than four years, Ford’s Willow Run plant produced a remarkable 8,685 B-24 bombers, securing the airport’s place in history. Today’s Willow Run has grown to become a vital part of our region’s future. It may be rare now to find a B-24 on approach to one of Willow Run’s five runways, but it is hard to miss the more than 100,000 aircraft that take off and land at the airport every year. Willow Run Airport is also a critical component of the state economy, having stimulated, directly or indirectly, more than 2,300 Michigan jobs representing a payroll of $65 million. Businesses at the airport also generated $9 million in local taxes during 2006.
