Closest Airports to Bonnaroo Festival

The popular Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival draws upwards of 80,000 people to a small town in central Tennessee – so one of the first orders of business if you’re planning a trip to the festival is finding out which airports are close by to figure out what your options are for getting there.

Bonnaroo takes over a 700-acre plot of land in Manchester, Tennessee each June, but flying to Manchester isn’t an option. The city is helpfully located 60 miles from two different Tennessee cities with their own relatively large airports, however, so you not only have an airport within about an hour from the festival – you have two. Plus, there’s a third option a bit further away.

So, for those of you who are further away than driving distance, here are the airports that are closest to the Bonnaroo Festival.

>> Bonnaroo runs from June 7-12, 2012

Nashville International Airport

The closest and biggest airport to Bonnaroo is the Nashville International Airport (BNA). It’s less than an hour from the festival site, and festival organizers provide a shuttle directly from the airport to the festival itself (it’s not free, and you have to reserve it, but it certainly makes getting back and forth easy).

Nashville’s airport has frequent flights in and out on budget carrier Southwest Airlines, so that’s definitely one to check for cheap flights to Nashville. Other airlines with busy schedules at Nashville include Delta and American.

Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport

The other airport that’s close to the Bonnaroo Festival site is Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA). This airport is about 1.25 hours away instead of Nashville’s less-than-one-hour, but it’s still close enough to be comparable. Chattanooga is a smaller airport than Nashville, so you’re less likely to be able to get a direct flight there unless you’re already somewhere reasonably close to Tennessee.

The budget airlines that fly into Chattanooga are Allegiant Air, US Airways, American Eagle, and Delta Connection – so those are the airlines to check first when you’re looking for cheap flights to Chattanooga.

Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport

If you really want to cast the net wider when it comes to airports you’re looking at, then be sure to include Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) in your searches. It’s roughly a 3-hour trip from the Knoxville airport to the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, but if you fancy a bit of a road trip it’s at least worth checking.

The regional and budget airlines that serve Knoxville’s airport are AirTran, Allegiant Air, American Eagle, Continental Express, Delta Connection, United Express, and US Airways Express. If you’re looking for cheap flights to Knoxville, those are the airlines to check first.

>> Here are some more tricks on how to find cheap airfare to Bonnaroo

photo by World Resources Institute Staff