General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport (IATA: PIA, ICAO: KPIA, FAA LID: PIA) is a civil/military public airport five miles west of Peoria, in Peoria County, Illinois. The airport is on the northwest edge of Bartonville, near Bellevue. It is owned by the Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria, which often refers to it as Peoria International Airport. It was formerly the Greater Peoria Regional Airport.
This airport is in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011-2015, which called it a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year). As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 278,426 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 242,142 in 2009 and 249,595 in 2010.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
History
On May 19, 1932, the citizens of Peoria voted to have an airport. On 195 acres (0.8 km²), American Airways (now American Airlines) and Chicago and Southern Airlines brought in airmail and passenger service on 4 shale-surfaced runways. The land was purchased by 261 Peoria businessmen who formed the Peoria Airport, Inc. It was turned over to the Peoria Park District in 1937, and then to newly formed The Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria in 1950.
Airport diagram for 1956
On April 25, 2007, the Greater Peoria Airport Authority announced a new 9 gate terminal will be built and the old terminal demolished. On October 10, 2008 the airport was renamed "General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport" during a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Ross Perot, friend of the late Wayne A. Downing. The new terminal, designed by Reynolds, Smith & Hills of Jacksonville, FL, Dewberry (architecture firm) of Peoria, and built by Turner Construction, opened on April 27, 2011. As of August 24, 2012 the airport was in negotiations for international flights using a temporary customs facility.
In the spring of 2016, the Ray Lahood International Arrivals Terminal was completed, offering additional gates, TSA services, and a US Customs Port of Entry facility
Air National Guard / Army National Guard
The airport is co-located with the Peoria Air National Guard Base, which is home to the 182d Airlift Wing (182 AW) of the Illinois Air National Guard. This Air National Guard unit is operationally-gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC) and consists of Lockheed C-130H Hercules aircraft. The airport is also home to the Illinois Army National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility No. 3 and 1st Battalion, 106th Aviation Regiment, currently operating the Boeing CH-47 "Chinook" helicopter.
Facilities and aircraft
Peoria International Airport covers 3,800 acres (1,538 ha) at an elevation of 661 feet (201 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways: 13/31 is 10,104 by 150 feet (3,080 x 46 m) concrete; 4/22 is 8,004 by 150 feet (2,440 x 46 m) concrete.
In the year ending November 1, 2011 the airport had 39,961 aircraft operations, average 109 per day: 42% general aviation, 33% air taxi, 20% military, and 5% scheduled commercial. 68 aircraft were then based at this airport: 59% single-engine, 15% jet, 15% military, 7% helicopter, and 4% multi-engine. As of December 2014, construction began on a $9 million International terminal and Customs Facility addition slated for completion during the Spring of 2016. This dual purpose facility is being constructed to handle both domestic and, eventual, international charter and commercial flights primarily to the Caribbean and Mexico.
Airlines and destinations
As of August 2014, Peoria International Airport features service from four passenger airlines. Of the four, Allegiant Air is the only airline with mainline service; American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines use smaller, regional aircraft.
Statistics
Top destinations
Cargo airlines
- ABX Air
- UPS Airlines
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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