Utah's only major airport is Salt Lake City International Airport (tel. 800/595-2442 or 801/575-2400; www.slcairport.com), located just north of I-80 at exit 115, on the west side of the city. Airlines serving the airport include American (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com), America West (tel. 800/235-9292; www.americawest.com), Continental (tel. 800/523-3273; www.continental.com), Delta/SkyWest (tel. 800/221-1212; www.delta.com), Frontier (tel. 800/432-1359; www.frontierairlines.com), JetBlue (tel. 800/538-2583; www.jetblue.com); Northwest (tel. 800/225-2525; www.nwa.com), Southwest (tel. 800/435-9792; www.southwest.com), and United (tel. 800/864-8331; www.united.com).
An alternative for visitors planning to go to southern Utah is to fly into McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada (tel. 702/261-5211; www.mccarran.com), which is only 120 miles southwest of St. George.
Airline Discounts -- The smart traveler can find numerable ways to reduce the price of a plane ticket simply by taking time to shop around. For example, overseas visitors can take advantage of the APEX (Advance Purchase Excursion) reductions offered by all major U.S. and European carriers.
Immigration & Customs Clearance -- Visitors arriving by air, no matter what the port of entry, should cultivate patience and resignation before setting foot on U.S. soil. Getting through immigration control can take as long as 2 hours on some days, especially on summer weekends, so be sure to carry this guidebook or something else to read. This is especially true in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when security clearances were considerably beefed up at U.S. airports.
People traveling by air from Canada, Bermuda, and certain countries in the Caribbean can sometimes clear Customs and Immigration at the point of departure, which is much quicker.
Prepare to Be Fingerprinted--Since January 2004, many international visitors traveling on visas to the United States are being photographed and fingerprinted at Customs in a new Department of Homeland Security program called US-VISIT. Non-U.S. citizens arriving at airports and on cruise ships must undergo an instant background check as part of the government's ongoing efforts to deter terrorism by verifying the identity of incoming and outgoing visitors. Exempt from the extra scrutiny are visitors entering by land or those from 28 countries (mostly in Europe) that don't require a visa for short-term visits. For more information, go to the Homeland Security website at www.dhs.gov/dhspublic.
