"International": the customs build, 2014–2019

23 April 2014 — 16 July 2019

The word was a promise first and a facility second: When the Airport Authority announced the name South Bend International Airport on 23 April 2014, it paired the name with a project: about $3 million, from federal, state, and airport funds, to build a general aviation facility and a border customs area. WNDU's account of the announcement described South Bend as only the second Indiana airport after Indianapolis with federal permission to handle international flights of both the private and commercial variety, and an airport study counted some seventy internationally registered aircraft flying into South Bend in a twelve-month period — the demand the name answered. The build followed in two pieces. The International General Aviation Facility opened in June 2017 and cleared nearly sixty international aircraft in its first partial year. The Federal Inspection Station opened on 16 July 2019, and the airport marked the day with the arrival of a Boeing 747 chartered by Liverpool Football Club, landed from Manchester, England, for a friendly at Notre Dame Stadium; the same day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced South Bend as Indiana's first Global Entry Enrollment Center. Unlike Fort Wayne — whose "International" rests on a 1988 customs-station decision in the federal record — no customs designation for South Bend earlier than this 2014–19 build was found in the sources reached for this section, and this record does not backdate one: at South Bend the name came first, and the customs house followed it.

Sources:

1. St. Joseph County Airport Authority press release, 23 April 2014 — the name change and the ~$3 million general aviation facility and border customs area project, federal/state/airport funds; WNDU, April 2014 — the second Indiana airport, after Indianapolis, with federal permission for international flights of both varieties.
2. South Bend Tribune via Kathryn's Report, March 2015 — the airport study counting ~70 internationally registered aircraft into South Bend in twelve months.
3. St. Joseph County Airport Authority releases, June 2017 and 16 July 2019 — the International General Aviation Facility opened June 2017, nearly 60 international aircraft cleared in its first partial year; the Federal Inspection Station opened 16 July 2019, marked by the Liverpool FC Boeing 747 charter from Manchester; CBP's announcement of Indiana's first Global Entry Enrollment Center.