Huntsville International Airport

Carl T. Jones Field
NAIP 2006 orthophoto
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerHuntsville / Madison County Airport Authority
ServesHuntsville, Alabama
Elevation AMSL629 ft / 192 m
Coordinates34°38′14″N 86°46′30″W / 34.63722°N 86.77500°W / 34.63722; -86.77500
Websiteflyhuntsville.com
Maps
FAA airport diagram
FAA airport diagram
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
18R/36L 12,600 3,840 Asphalt
18L/36R 10,001 3,048 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers1,201,105
Operations65,273
Drone Shot, HSV International Airport
Picture inside the Terminal, HSV Airport

Huntsville International Airport (IATA: HSV[3], ICAO: KHSV, FAA LID: HSV) (Carl T. Jones Field) is a public airport and spaceport ten miles southwest of downtown Huntsville, in Madison County, Alabama, United States. The FAA has designated the Huntsville International Airport as a Re-entry site for Dream Chaser, a spaceplane operated by Sierra Space to make reentries from Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

The airport is part of the Port of Huntsville (along with the International Intermodal Center and Jetplex Industrial Park), and serves the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. Opened in October 1967 as the Huntsville Jetport, it was the third airport for Huntsville.[4][5] The airport has 12 gates with restrooms, shops, restaurants, phones and murals depicting aviation and space exploration scenes. The airport also has on a 3-star hotel on the premises.[6] The Four Points by Sheraton is located above the ticketing area and lobby, (adjacent to the terminal is a parking garage and to opposite sides are the control tower and a golf course).

The airport's west runway, at 12,600 ft (3,800 m), is the second longest commercial runway in the southeastern United States, being 400 ft (120 m) shorter than the longest runway at Miami International Airport. Huntsville is frequently used as a diversion airport from larger hubs in the Southeast, such as Atlanta, due to its long runways and sophisticated snow removal and de-icing equipment.[7]

The airport's "Fly Huntsville" marketing campaign encourages passengers to depart from Huntsville instead of driving to Birmingham or Nashville.[8] An August 2009 report by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics for the first quarter of 2009 revealed that Huntsville passengers paid, on average, was the highest airfares in the United States.[9] However, the airport reported that commercial airline passenger traffic increased 2.3% in January 2010 over the previous year.[10]

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a primary commercial service airport.[11] Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 612,690 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[12] 572,767 in 2009 and 606,127 in 2010.[13]

History

The original airport, Huntsville Flying Field/Mayfair Airport, was south of the city. It had sod runways, no lighting and opened in the early 1930s. By 1934 the airport had four dirt/sod runways, southwest of today's intersection of Whitesburg Drive and Bob Wallace Avenue.[14]

A second airport south of downtown opened in 1941 with two paved runways, Runway 18/36 being 4,000' long. The terminal building was a wooden shack at the northeast end of Runway 5/23; the National Weather Service opened at the municipal airport in 1958. The second airport was near today's intersection of Memorial Parkway and Airport Road; traces of runways and terminal facilities can be seen from the air.[15]

Huntsville's first scheduled jets were United 727s in late 1966. Carl T. Jones Field opened in 1967, west of the city along Highway 20 and County Line Road. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held 15 September 1968 with Dr. Wernher von Braun and Senator John Sparkman in attendance.

On July 10, 2018, the airport announced that Frontier Airlines would begin nonstop service to Denver and Orlando in October with the A320 Family. This marked the resumption of low-cost airline presence at the airport.

Airport facilities

The airport covers 6,000 acres (2,428 ha) at an elevation of 629 feet (192 m). It has two asphalt runways: 18R/36L is 12,600 by 150 feet (3,840 x 46 m) and 18L/36R is 10,001 by 150 feet (3,048 x 46 m).[16] In the year ending December 31, 2019, the airport had 70,816 aircraft operations which averaged about 194 flights per day.

Airlines and destinations

Huntsville International Airport is served by five passenger airlines including: American Airlines, Silver Airways, Breeze Airways, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.[17] Huntsville passenger airlines represent the biggest three international airline alliances in the world. Some services are flown by regional affiliates via code sharing agreements.

Huntsville International Airport serves Eight cargo airlines including: Cargolux, Latam Cargo, Atlas Air, DSV, Fedex Express, Qatar Airways Cargo, UPS and Kerry Logistics Network.[18]

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
American Eagle Charlotte, Chicago–O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Washington–National
Seasonal: Miami
Breeze Airways Las Vegas,[19] Orlando, Tampa
Delta Air Lines Atlanta
Delta Connection Atlanta, Detroit
Silver Airways Orlando
United Express Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Houston–Intercontinental, Washington–Dulles

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Atlas Air Ameriflight LouisvilleAnchorage, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Miami
CargoluxLuxembourg
DSVLuxembourg
FedEx FeederMemphis
LATAM Cargo
UPS Airlines
Fort Myers, Louisville, ShreveportDoha)
Qatar Airways Cargo
Aerial Photo, HSV Airport

Statistics

Top destinations

Busiest domestic routes from HSV (April 2022 - March 2023)[20]
Rank Airport Passengers Carriers
1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta, Georgia 201,000 Delta
2 Texas Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 103,000 American
3 North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina 71,000 American
4 Virginia Washington–National, Virginia 68,000 American
5 Colorado Denver, Colorado 48,000 United
6 Texas Houston–Intercontinental, Texas 39,000 United
7 Illinois Chicago–O'Hare, Illinois 32,000 American, United
8 Virginia Washington–Dulles, Virginia 16,000 United
9 Michigan Detroit, Michigan 14,000 Delta
10 Florida Orlando, Florida 12,000 Breeze, Silver

Other statistics

Airline Market Share (April 2022 - March 2023)
Rank Airline Passengers Market Share
1 Delta 386,000 31.10%
2 PSA 247,000 19.86%
3 SkyWest 220,000 17.70%
4 Envoy 100,000 8.04%
5 Commutair 72,000 5.78%
Other 218,000 17.53%

Past airline service

In 1969-80, Huntsville had nonstop or direct flights to Los Angeles, Florida and Texas during the U.S. space program. These flights served the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

In June 1967, Eastern Airlines introduced "The Space Corridor" linking Huntsville with St. Louis, Seattle and the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida.[21] In the June 13, 1967, timetable, Eastern Boeing 727-100s flew to St. Louis and on to Seattle, and nonstop to Orlando continuing to Melbourne, Florida, near the Kennedy Space Center. Eastern flew direct Douglas DC-9-30s to Houston, home of the NASA Johnson Space Center, via New Orleans in the late 1960s. Eastern had direct jets to Chicago during the early 1970s via Nashville. In April 1975, Eastern served Nashville, Orlando and St. Louis nonstop from Huntsville on 727s and DC-9s.[22]

In November 1967, Eastern scheduled nine departures each weekday from the new airport while United had four and Southern had 17.

United Airlines started nonstop Boeing 727-100s to Los Angeles in 1969. United first served Huntsville in 1961 when it acquired Capital Airlines which had scheduled Vickers Viscounts nonstop from Huntsville's old airport (at 34°41′10″N 86°35′20″W / 34.686°N 86.589°W / 34.686; -86.589) (1949 diagram) to Memphis, Knoxville and Washington, D.C., and direct to New York (LaGuardia and Newark) and Philadelphia. Until 1967, United used the same Viscounts, then introduced Boeing 727-100s into Huntsville in 1966. In April 1975, United served Greensboro, Knoxville, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., nonstop from Huntsville on 727s and 737s.[22] Raleigh/Durham service was added by 1979.[23] In August 1982, United had direct 727s to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver and nonstop Boeing 737-200s to Washington, D.C.

Southern Airways also served Huntsville. In the late 1960s, Southern introduced 75-seat Douglas DC-9-10s into their fleet which had consisted of 40-seat Martin 4-0-4. Southern's timetable in September 1968 listed nonstop jets to Atlanta, Memphis, New Orleans and Muscle Shoals, AL; Southern was still flying Martin 4-0-4s from Huntsville. In April 1975, Southern DC-9s flew nonstop to Atlanta, Chattanooga, Memphis, Montgomery, Muscle Shoals, Nashville, New Orleans and Orlando.[22] Southern had direct DC-9s to New York City (LaGuardia Airport), Washington, D,C. (Dulles Airport), Denver, St. Louis, Detroit and Wichita. In 1979, Southern merged with North Central Airlines to form Republic Airlines which continued to serve Huntsville, by that time having dropped Chattanooga and Montgomery service and having added Greenville/Spartanburg and Mobile/Pascagoula service.[23] Republic was acquired by Northwest Airlines which later merged with Delta Air Lines.

Service to Atlanta hit a high point in early 1985 when 17 nonstops a day flew HSV to ATL on four airlines, three flying "main line" jets. In the February 15, 1985, Official Airline Guide, Eastern Airlines had Boeing 727-100s and Douglas DC-9-50s, Republic Airlines was flying Douglas DC-9-10s, DC-9-30s and DC-9-50s, United Airlines flew 727-100s and Delta Connection, operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA, which became ExpressJet), had de Havilland Canada DHC-7s and Shorts 360s. Today, Delta Air Lines and affiliate Delta Connection are the only airlines between Huntsville and Atlanta.

View of the new control tower

By 1989, the airport was linked to major airline hubs: Delta served Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth, Eastern served Atlanta, American served Dallas/Fort Worth and Nashville, Northwest served Memphis, and United served Chicago and Washington Dulles. United and American flew nonstop to Birmingham, United continued to fly nonstop to Knoxville, and Delta had a daily flight to Memphis.[24] United pulled out entirely by 1995, while USAir entered the market in the early 1990s with daily flights to Charlotte.[25]

Only Delta Air Lines operates main line jets to the airport now. Frontier previously had Airbus A320 service nonstop to Denver and Orlando. Delta operates Boeing 717 and McDonnell Douglas MD-88 aircraft to Atlanta. The airline previously flew Douglas DC-9-50s nonstop to Atlanta with some flights being flown by ExpressJet Canadair CRJ-700 and CRJ-200s as Delta Connection service to ATL; however, all services to ATL have been switched to mainline jets. The airport had service to New Orleans on GLO Airlines, but that ended after the airline filed for bankruptcy in 2017. Frontier Airlines ended service in 2022.

Expansion

View of the ramp

In 1989, Huntsville International became the first airport in the United States to install an ASR-9 dual-channel airport surveillance radar system.[26] and became one of five airports in the United States to use glass walled jet bridges.In 2015, thyssenkrupp Airport Systems manufactured and installed new glass jet brides making Huntsville International Airport the first in the Southeast to enhance their facility by using all glass jet bridges.[27]

Currently, Huntsville International is undergoing major renovations on their runways and concourse facilities to meet the expected future demand and flow of passengers and goods.[28][29]

Accidents and incidents

  • On April 4, 1977, a Douglas DC-9-31 operating as Southern Airways Flight 242 took off from Huntsville after a stopover from Muscle Shoals, and encountered severe storms shortly after. Hail later struck the plane causing the plane engines to fail, and shortly thereafter the airplane crashed near New Hope, Georgia. 63 were killed aboard the plane and also nine people on the ground; 20 passengers and two crew members survived.
  • On June 18, 2014, an IAI Westwind corporate aircraft crashed upon takeoff, killing all three on board.[30][31]

See also

References

  1. ↑ FAA Airport Form 5010 for HSV PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. effective November 15, 2012.
  2. ↑ "HSV Airport Statistics for 2022". flyhuntsville.com. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  3. ↑ "IATA Airport Code Search (HSV: Huntsville Intl)". International Air Transport Association. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Huntsville's New Jetport Will Be First of Its Kind". The Tuscaloosa News. March 24, 1966. p. 5. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  5. ↑ Freeman, Paul. "Alabama: Huntsville area". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Four Points by Sheraton Huntsville Airport | Marriott Bonvoy". www.marriott.com. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  7. ↑ "Huntsville International Airport is prepared for diversions caused by winter weather". WHNT.com. 2017-01-08. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  8. ↑ Baskas, Harriet (March 12, 2008). "Better branding through music: Original airport theme songs". USA Today.
  9. ↑ "Flights from Huntsville ranked most expensive". WAAY-TV. Associated Press. August 4, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
  10. ↑ Clines, Keith (February 10, 2010). "Passenger traffic at airport starts to climb". The Huntsville Times. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011.
  11. ↑ "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF, 2.03 MB) on September 27, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). 2008 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). 2010 CY 2010 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
  14. ↑ Freeman, Paul (June 24, 2018). "Huntsville Airport (1st location) / Huntsville Flying Field / Mayfair Airport, Huntsville, AL". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  15. ↑ Freeman, Paul (April 26, 2020). "Huntsville Airport (2nd location), Huntsville, AL". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  16. ↑ "HSV airport data at skyvector.com". skyvector.com. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Airline Info". Huntsville International Airport. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  18. ↑ "Port of Huntsville Maps". Port of Huntsville. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  19. ↑ "Breeze Airways wants a piece of your summer vacation budget with these 35 new routes across US". USA Today.
  20. ↑ "Huntsville, AL: Huntsville International-Carl T Jones Field (HSV)". Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Vintage Airline Aviation and Aerospace Ads - eastern-airlines-ad-space-corridor.jpg - Magazine Advertisement Picture Scans". aviationexplorer.com. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  22. 1 2 3 "HSV75p1". departedflights.com. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  23. 1 2 "HSV79p1". departedflights.com. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  24. ↑ "HSV89p1". departedflights.com. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  25. ↑ "HSV95p1". departedflights.com. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  26. ↑ "Huntsville airport gets new radar system". The Tuscaloosa News. May 12, 1989. p. 7.
  27. ↑ "Huntsville International Airport Unveils New Glass Jet Bridges – Quad Cities Daily". 2015-12-16. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  28. ↑ "HSV Builds". Huntsville International Airport. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  29. ↑ "Huntsville's Economic Future is Tied to our Airport's Success". Huntsville International Airport. 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  30. ↑ Grass, Jonathan (June 18, 2014). "Plane crash at Huntsville International Airport claims 3 lives". The Huntsville Times. AL.com. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  31. ↑ Robinson, Carol; Davidson, Tiffany (June 19, 2014). "3 men killed in Wednesday plane crash identified". The Huntsville Times. AL.com. Retrieved June 19, 2014.


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