Joe Company, which owned the land the airport would be based on, would derive an unfair benefit at the taxpayers' expense. The county commission chose to proceed with building a new airport and closing down Fannin Field despite a majority of voters in a non-binding 2004 referendum voting against the plan. The relocation of the airport was controversial in Bay County. In 2005–2007 the authority obtained the needed permits.

The authority received tentative approval to build a new airport in northwestern Bay County in 2001. With strong opposition to extending the runways into an environmentally sensitive bay or into neighborhoods, the airport authority began to search for relocation sites. Andrews Bay or into residential neighborhoods, relocation of the airport to a new site, or collocation with Tyndall AFB. Proposed ideas included using the current airport property and extending the current short runways into St. However, it did not have enough room to expand. The old airport had been built in 1932, with scheduled service beginning in 1948. In the late 1990s, the Panama City-Bay County Airport and Industrial District (Airport Authority) started looking for ways to increase the air service in the Panama City area. The airport authority originally decided to name it Northwest Florida–Panama City International Airport, but airlines and the general public asked the airport authority to use a more regional name. The airport currently has no scheduled international flights, due to the small population in the surrounding areas and the fact that the demand for visitation to Panama City is mostly regional and/or national.

The airport opened for commercial flights on May 23, 2010, and is the first international airport in the United States designed and built since the September 11 attacks. It replaced Panama City–Bay County International Airport (Fannin Field, PFN), which was located in Panama City. The airport is owned by the Panama City-Bay County Airport & Industrial District, and is north of Panama City Beach, near West Bay. Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport ( IATA: ECP, ICAO: KECP, FAA LID: ECP) is a public airport 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Panama City, Florida, United States, in Bay County.

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