This is what Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport used to look like. See how much things have changed

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport sees more than 130,000 passengers arriving and departing daily.

While it's among the busiest airports in the world, it wasn't always that way.

Arizona Republic photographers have captured the growth of the airport over the years since it opened and began expanding. The photos show what the airport used to look like and how it has changed over the years.

Here's what to know about Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and how it has grown over the years.

When did Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport open?

J. Parker Van Zandt, owner of Scenic Airways, came to Phoenix in 1928 looking for a place to locate his company.

He purchased 278 acres of cotton fields east of 24th Street and south of the Southern Pacific railroad tracks for a landing field.

The airport changed ownership over the years, and Phoenix purchased the airport in July 1935 for $100,000.

What happened to Terminal 1 at Sky Harbor Airport?

Terminal 1 was the airport's first "modern" terminal, according to the airport website . It cost $835,000 to build and opened in October 1952. The terminal was demolished in 1991, and the other terminals were never renumbered.

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When were Sky Harbor's terminals built?

Construction of Terminal 2 finished in 1962. The 330,000-square-foot terminal cost $2.7 million to build. Terminal 2 closed in 2020.

Terminal 3 was modernized in 2020. The 880,000-square-foot terminal was originally built in 1979 at a cost of $35 million.

Terminal 4, the airport's busiest , opened in 1990. The 3.9 million square foot terminal cost $248 million to build.

A new terminal was announced in May 2024. The terminal, which has yet to be named, will be built where terminals one and two once stood. Construction is not expected to start until 2030, officials said.

Why was the Phoenix airport named Sky Harbor?

The airport's name was selected by Scenic Airways when owner Van Zandt opened it in the 1920s.

Michael Jones, who wrote a history of the airport, said the origins of the name "Sky Harbor" are unclear.

"By February of 1929, the airport was officially titled Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Whether the name came from a desire by Scenic to name all its airports Sky Harbor or by the idea of a 'harbor' for aircraft, no one knows for sure," he wrote in his book.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: This is what Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport used to look like. See how much things have changed