Why would a town of Ketchikan's size need a ferry just to reach its airport? Geography decided it. Ketchikan International Airport, owned by the State of Alaska and run by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, sits on Gravina Island, while the town lies on Revillagigedo Island on the other side of Tongass Narrows. The state calls the borough's ferry the primary public link between the two islands: it carries cars, cyclists and people on foot.
It is a shuttle, not a scheduled voyage in the usual sense. On the town side the boat goes at :15 and :45, on the Gravina side at :00 and :30, seven days a week, starting with the 6:15 a.m. and ending with the 9:30 p.m. from the airport.
This is a separate service from the state's Alaska Marine Highway and from the Inter-Island Ferry Authority, which both use a different terminal on Tongass Avenue. The airport ferry is the borough's: it has its own landings, its own fares, and $6 covers an adult's round trip if both legs fall on one calendar day.
Half past and quarter past: the shuttle's year-round rhythm
Year-round pattern stated on the Ketchikan Gateway Borough's Airport Ferry and Airport pages, read October 15, 2026. The summer second boat (May 18 – September 18, 2026) has finished for the year. Ketchikan Gateway Borough — Airport Ferry · 2026-10-15
Six dollars across, and the trip back is free the same day
Fares are one-way, but the borough builds in a free return: anyone who buys a one-way passenger fare can come back on the same calendar day without paying again, as long as they keep the receipt. A flight out and back the same day therefore costs an adult $6 in ferry fares.
The borough code prices the vehicle on its own, without anyone inside it: one adult driving across pays $7 for the car and $6 for themselves.
| Age 12 and older | $ 6 |
| Age 6 to 11 | $ 3 |
| Age 5 and under | Free |
| Car, light truck or van | $ 7 |
| Motorcycle or scooter | $ 3 |
| Box truck, box van or bus up to 35 ft | $ 10 |
| Over 35 ft long or 8.5 ft wide | $ 38 |
| Revilla (Ketchikan side) lot | $ 3.50 |
| Gravina (airport side) lot | $ 5.50 |
Fares on the borough's Airport Ferry page, read October 15, 2026, identical to the airport ferry fares in Borough Code 10.10.070 Ketchikan Gateway Borough — Airport Ferry fares · 2026-10-15
Not the Marine Highway terminal: two landings of the borough's own
Do not confuse this landing with the state ferry terminal at 3501 Tongass Avenue, elsewhere on the same road. That is where the Alaska Marine Highway System and the Inter-Island Ferry Authority's daily boat to Hollis on Prince of Wales Island sail from, with their own tickets and check-in times. If you are connecting from a flight to the Ketchikan–Hollis ferry, you cross on the airport shuttle first and then go to the state terminal. The Marine Highway's own ships, like those on the Juneau–Haines run farther north, keep dated sailings rather than a clock-face shuttle.
Airport ferry terminal, Ketchikan side (Revilla)
The town-side landing is on Tongass Avenue, about 2.6 miles north of downtown Ketchikan; signs in the parking lot lead to the ferry. Since February 1, 2024 passengers wait in the Revilla Passenger Waiting Facility, a 1,600-square-foot building with seats and restrooms, open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. It is part of the State of Alaska's Gravina Access Project, which also covers walkways, a reconstructed transfer bridge and ramp, and metered parking.
Parking here costs $3.50 per 24 hours at the pay stations; the VenPay phone app charges slightly more. The system reads license plates, so you only enter your plate number and the number of days. The borough warns that airport terminal construction can mean longer waits for the ferry and fewer parking spaces.
Airport ferry terminal, Gravina Island
On Gravina the boat lands at Ketchikan International Airport, the fifth busiest airport in Alaska according to the borough. Long-term parking on the airport side costs $5.50 per 24 hours at the pay stations. Pay stations are on the first and second floors of the airport terminal as well as around the Revilla building.
A short hop over Tongass Narrows
Tongass Narrows is the channel between Revillagigedo Island, where the town is, and Gravina Island, where the runway is. The ferry crosses it from a landing north of downtown to a dock beside the airport, a run that the borough times on a half-hourly cycle with a single boat outside the summer months.
Making a flight with the airport ferry
- Build in an extra boat
With one ferry every 30 minutes outside summer and construction under way at the airport terminal, missing a boat costs half an hour. The borough itself advises planning for longer waits.
- Keep the receipt
The free same-day return only works if you can show the receipt with the date you bought the one-way fare.
- Late arrivals
The last scheduled run leaves the airport side at 9:30 p.m. Outside those hours the borough code only sets charges for after-hours call-outs, so check your flight time against the schedule.
- Driving across
Cars, vans and light trucks pay $7 each way; the driver and passengers pay their own fares on top. Large or heavy loads need advance arrangements.
- Waiting room hours
The Revilla waiting facility opens 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Early boats leave before it opens and late ones after it closes, so dress for the weather.
- Accessibility
The Gravina Access Project upgraded sidewalks and wheelchair ramps around the ferry landings. For specific needs, the borough's airport page lists an ADA liaison for Ketchikan International.
A ferry chosen over other ways across
The question of how to reach Gravina has been studied for years under the State of Alaska's Gravina Access Project. In June 2017 the Federal Highway Administration and the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities issued a Record of Decision choosing Alternative G4v from six build alternatives, a package built around the existing ferry. It provides for the waiting facility, a heavy-freight mooring near the airport, reconstructed transfer bridges and ramps, and better sidewalks and wheelchair ramps.
The two shuttle boats come from the yard right across the water. The Oral Freeman, 116 ft 6 in long, came out in 2001, the Ketchikan yard of Alaska Ship and Drydock's very first vessel; the Ken Eichner 2, 116 ft with a 48-ft beam, followed from the same yard in 2013. Each runs with a crew of two, a captain and a deckhand.
Two shuttle ferries built across the Narrows
Ketchikan airport ferry questions from arriving and departing travelers
What do walk-on passengers pay on the Ketchikan airport ferry?
$6 one way for anyone 12 or older, $3 for children 6 to 11, and children under 6 travel without charge. The return trip on the same calendar day is free if you keep your receipt.
Earliest crossing toward the airport: what time?
6:15 a.m. from the Ketchikan side at 4171 Tongass Avenue. After that, town-side departures follow at :15 and :45.
Gravina to town at night: what is the latest crossing?
The last scheduled run leaves the airport side at 9:30 p.m. Departures from the airport side are on the hour and the half hour.
Is the airport ferry the same as the Alaska Marine Highway ferry?
No. The airport ferry belongs to the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and runs from 4171 Tongass Avenue. The state Marine Highway and the Inter-Island Ferry to Hollis leave from the terminal at 3501 Tongass Avenue.
What does a rental car pay to cross Tongass Narrows?
$7 one way for a car, light truck or van, plus each person's fare. Motorcycles and scooters pay $3.
Flying out of Ketchikan: which side should I park on?
Either on the town side, in the Revilla lot at $3.50 per 24 hours, or across the Narrows on Gravina at $5.50 per 24 hours (pay-station rates). If you park on Gravina you take the car over on the ferry.
Does the airport ferry run every 15 minutes?
Only in summer, when a second boat runs 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays. In 2026 that lasted from May 18 to September 18; the rest of the year one boat runs every 30 minutes.