Arcata–Eureka Airport

California Redwood Coast – Humboldt County Airport[2] (IATA: ACV[3], ICAO: KACV, FAA LID: ACV), also known as Arcata–Eureka Airport and Arcata Airport, is in Humboldt County, California, United States, 8 miles (13 km) north of Arcata and 15 miles (24 km) north of Eureka, in McKinleyville.[1]

Not to be confused with Eureka Airport or Eureka Aerodrome.
California Redwood Coast – Humboldt County Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerHumboldt County
ServesHumboldt County, California
LocationMcKinleyville, California
Elevation AMSL222 ft / 68 m
Coordinates40°58′40″N 124°06′30″W
Websitehttp://flyhumboldt.org/
Map
ACV
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
14/32 6,046 1,843 Asphalt
1/19 4,501 1,372 Asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Aircraft operations48,164
Based aircraft11
Sources: FAA,[1] Humboldt County[2]

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a Nonhub primary commercial service airport.[4] The airport is a federally designated port of entry for civil aircraft arriving in the United States.[5] The airport is the site of the command center for and primary facilities of the United States Coast Guard Air Station Humboldt Bay, which provides rescue and law enforcement for the region north of the San Francisco Bay Area.

History

The airport was built by the United States Navy during World War II to test defogging systems.[6] It operated in support of the Naval Air Station Alameda as the Arcata Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS)[7] and was headquarters for the Eureka section of naval local defense forces for the 12th Naval District.[8][9]

In December 1947 a Southwest Airways Douglas DC-3 made the world's first blind landing by a scheduled commercial airliner using Ground-Controlled Approach (GCA) radar, Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) oil-burners next to the runway.[10] By the following year the airline had made 1,200 routine instrument landings at the often fog-shrouded airport.

Facilities

The airport covers 745 acres (301 ha) at an elevation of 222 feet (68 m). It has two asphalt runways: 14/32 is 6,046 by 150 feet (1,843 by 46 m) and 1/19 is 4,501 by 150 feet (1,372 by 46 m).[1]

The airport is under the jurisdiction of the California Coastal Commission and major changes to the airport such as rezoning or fencing in the airport require its approval.[11]

The approach path for runway 32 passes over Central Avenue. The glare of the strobe lights that direct planes to the runway were a hazard for drivers, especially during rain when the strobes' intensity increased and the road reflected the blinking lights. Baffles were installed on the strobes which block the lights from shining on the road while still guiding aircraft.[12]

Airline and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinations
United Express Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco

Statistics
Top domestic destinations: January - October 2019[13]
Rank City Passengers Airline
1 San Francisco, California 42,801 United Express
2 Los Angeles, California 19,510 United Express
3 Denver, Colorado (June - October) 6,601 United Express

Current airline service

Scheduled flights are on SkyWest Airlines (United Express) with three or four flights per day to SFO on CRJ-200s and Embraer 175s, and two flights per day to LAX using the CRJ-200.

Daily nonstop service to Denver International Airport began on June 7, 2019.

Service has increased since 2015, with two new destinations (LAX and DEN), and passenger departures have increased 56%.[13]

Past airline service

ACV was served by Eureka Aero (mid-1970s) (Eureka, Crescent City), Air Oregon (early 1980s) (San Francisco, Sacramento, Portland, OR, Medford, OR, Eugene, OR, North Bend, OR), American Eagle (San Jose), Pacific Air Lines and predecessor Southwest Airways (San Francisco), Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) (San Francisco), Horizon Air (from 1994 to 2011) (Redding, Portland, Los Angeles and briefly Seattle), Delta Connection (2008–2010) operated by SkyWest Airlines (Salt Lake City), Hughes Airwest and predecessor Air West (Crescent City, Medford, San Francisco, Eugene, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle); Republic Airlines (1979–1986) (San Francisco and other destinations); United Airlines (San Francisco), WestAir operating as United Express (San Francisco), and Arcata Flying Service (early 1980s) (Redding, Portland, and Oakland).[14] In 2016 and part of 2017, PenAir offered service to Portland International (PDX) and Redding (RDD) with 30 passenger Saab 340Bs.[15]

Past jet service
  • Pacific Air Lines flew Boeing 727-100s nonstop to San Francisco and direct to Burbank.
  • Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) flew BAe 146-200s nonstop to San Francisco and direct to Los Angeles.
  • WestAir (operating code sharing service as United Express on behalf of United Airlines) flew BAe 146-200s nonstop to San Francisco.
  • United Airlines flew Boeing 737-200s to San Francisco.
  • SkyWest (operating code sharing service as the Delta Connection on behalf of Delta Air Lines) flew Canadair CRJ-200s to Salt Lake City.
  • Hughes Airwest (previously Air West) flew Douglas DC-9-10s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s nonstop to San Francisco and direct to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson, Portland, OR and Seattle. At one point, Hughes Airwest DC-9s flew direct, no change of plane DC-9 service to Mazatlan and Guadalajara via San Francisco, Los Angeles and Tucson.[16] Predecessor Air West operated Boeing 727-100s, Douglas DC-9-10s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s nonstop to San Francisco.[17]
  • Republic Airlines, which was the successor to Hughes Airwest, operated McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s nonstop to San Francisco with direct, no change of plane DC-9 service to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Memphis and Tampa during the early 1980s.[18][19]

The first jets scheduled to ACV were Pacific Air Lines Boeing 727-100s in 1967; Pacific also served ACV with Fairchild F-27 turboprops.

Ground transportation

Other local airports

References
  1. FAA Airport Form 5010 for ACV PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective June 27, 2013.
  2. "Arcata/Eureka Airport". Humboldt County. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  3. "IATA Airport Code Search (ACV: Arcata)". International Air Transport Association. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  4. "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 2012-09-27.
  5. "Section 6. United States Customs Service Airports". September 4, 2000. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
  6. "Senate Joint Resolution No. 12" (PDF). California State Senate. 1997. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
  7. "California State Military Museum". M.L.Shettle. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  8. "U.S. Naval Activities World War II by State". Patrick Clancey. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  9. Historic California Posts, Camps, Stations and Airfields. Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Arcata
  10. "Small-Town Big-Timer". Time magazine. October 18, 1948. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  11. "California Coastal Commission March 2002 Meeting Agenda". California Coastal Commission. March 5, 2002. Archived from the original on December 7, 2006. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
  12. Patterson, James W., Jr. (August 2005). "Design and Installation of Flasher Baffles at the Arcata/Eureka Airport" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration Office of Aviation Research. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 26, 2006. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
  13. "OST_R | BTS | Transtats". www.transtats.bts.gov. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  14. "Aviation / Airports". County of Humboldt. 2005. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
  15. https://www.northcoastjournal.com/NewsBlog/archives/2017/08/05/penair-dropping-humboldt-route-effective-monday
  16. http://www.departedflights.com, Oct. 26, 1975 Hughes Airwest timetable
  17. http://northwestairlineshistory.org, Digital Archive, Timetables, July 1, 1968 & Oct. 27, 1968 Air West system timetables
  18. http://www.departedflights.com/ACV81intro.html
  19. http://northwestairlineshistory.org, Digital Archive, Timetables, Dec. 1, 1980 & July 1, 1983 Republic Airlines system timetables
  20. "Redwood Transit System". Retrieved March 29, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.