Hagerstown Regional Airport

Hagerstown Regional Airport (IATA: HGR[2], ICAO: KHGR, FAA LID: HGR) (Richard A. Henson Field) is in Washington County, Maryland, five miles north of Hagerstown, Maryland[1] and a half mile (800 m) from the Maryland/Pennsylvania border. The airport is off Interstate 81 at exit 10 and U.S. Route 11, not far from Northern Virginia, South Central Pennsylvania, and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

This article is about an airport in Maryland. For an airport of similar name in Indiana, see Hagerstown Airport.

Hagerstown Regional Airport

Richard A. Henson Field
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorWashington County
ServesHagerstown, Maryland
Elevation AMSL703 ft / 214 m
Coordinates39°42′31″N 077°43′35″W
WebsiteFlyHagerstown.com
Map
HGR
HGR
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
9/27 7,000 2,134 Asphalt
2/20 3,165 965 Asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Aircraft operations43,035
Based aircraft129

The Federal Aviation Administration says this airport had 1,696 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[3] 13,365 in 2009, and 10,665 in 2010.[4] The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation airport based on 2008 enplanements (the commercial service category requires at least 2,500 per year).[5]

History

The airfield opened in 1928 on 60 acres (24 ha) of farmland purchased by the Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company. It was purchased by the City of Hagerstown in 1933.[6]

In 1934, after purchase by Fairchild, Kreider-Reisner was renamed the Fairchild Aircraft Corporation. In the following years, an aircraft manufacturing facility was built on the Hagerstown municipal airport site. In the 1940s, the Fairchild Aircraft factory at Hagerstown produced PT-19 trainers and C-82 Packet transport aircraft for the war. After World War II, Fairchild would go on to produce C-119 and C-123 military transports and license-produce Fokker F27 airliners at Hagerstown. From 1973 to 1984, final assembly and checkout of the A-10 Thunderbolt II was performed at Hagerstown. Following A-10 production, Fairchild shut down the Hagerstown plant. In 57 years of operation, the Fairchild factory had built over 10,000 aircraft.[6]

The facility was named Washington County Regional Airport in 1981, when ownership was transferred from the City of Hagerstown to Washington County. In 1998, the county renamed it Hagerstown Regional Airport - Richard A. Henson Field.[6]

Subsidiaries of US Airways Express had served Hagerstown Regional Airport for some time. The airport lost eligibility for Essential Air Service funding on October 1, 2007, because it was located less than 70 miles (110 km) from a larger airport.[7] The last discontinued destination from Hagerstown by this air carrier group was Pittsburgh International Airport.[8] Due to low ridership and the expired federal subsidy, Air Midwest ended their flights from Hagerstown on September 30, 2007.[9]

Hagerstown Regional Airport was without an airline for just over a year[10] until the advent of Allegiant Air which flew from Hagerstown Regional Airport to Orlando Sanford International Airport with two departures on Friday and two arrivals on Monday. The airline started commercial service on November 14, 2008.[11] The airline used the McDonnell Douglas MD-82/MD-83 aircraft on this route. Scheduled service at Hagerstown ended on July 19, 2010,[12] but service later resumed. On August 13, 2013, Allegiant began another hiatus from operations at Hagerstown Regional Airport. They resumed service on November 15, 2013, with afternoon flights.

Beginning on March 24, 2009,[13] Cape Air served Hagerstown Regional with four flights daily on Cessna 402 aircraft to Baltimore-Washington International Airport in Baltimore. These flights were subsidized by the Essential Air Service federal program.[14] This service ended in 2012 and was replaced on November 5, 2012 with EAS-subsidized service when Sun Air International began offering daily flights to Washington Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington, D.C..[15]

On June 23, 2011 Hagerstown Regional Airport began service from Direct Air, operated by Dynamic Airways, to Lakeland, Florida, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.[16] In August 2011, Direct Air decided to temporarily suspend service from Hagerstown, saying that demand for service during the winter was expected to decrease.[17] Direct Air stated they would consider returning to the Hagerstown market in the spring of 2012.[17] Direct Air was subject to Chapter 7 liquidation on April 12, 2012.[18]

Hagerstown Regional Airport's eligibility for Essential Air Service was planned to be cut because the airport had fewer than ten enplanements per service day in 2013, in accordance with the FAA Modernization Act of 2012.[19] United States Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski and U.S. Congressman John Delaney advocated for the United States Department of Transportation to approve a waiver, pointing to a significant increase in enplanements in early 2014.[19] The Department of Transportation approved the waiver, and Hagerstown Regional Airport retained its eligibility for Essential Air Service.[19]

In February 2015 Allegiant Air began nonstop jet service twice weekly to St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport, which was followed by twice weekly service to Orlando Sanford International Airport.[20]

In October 2019, the Department of Transportation again announced the end of Essential Air Service to Hagerstown, pending any successful appeals.[21] Southern Airways Express subsequently announced the suspension of ticket sales for their routes from the airport in October 2019.[22]

Facilities
Allegiant Air MD-83 at HGR in 2009

Hagerstown Regional Airport covers 693 acres (280 ha) at an elevation of 703 feet (214 m). It has two asphalt runways: 9/27 is 7,000 by 150 feet (2,134 x 46 m) and 2/20 is 3,165 by 100 feet (965 x 30 m).[1]

In October 2010, a new 43,000-square-foot (4,000 m2) hangar opened.[23] Construction of the hangar was financed with $6.5 million of Recovery Zone Facility Bonds, a tax-exempt bond from the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development for projects that stimulate business development projects in distressed areas.[23]

In the year ending March 31, 2011, the airport had 43,035 aircraft operations, average 117 per day: 79% general aviation, 11% military, 10% air taxi, and less than 1% airline. 129 aircraft were then based at this airport: 94% single-engine, 4% jet, and 2% ultralight.[1]

Cape Air Cessna 402 at HGR in 2009

In 2014 the United States Department of Transportation awarded a $1,000,000 grant to Hagerstown Regional Airport to plan and design major rehabilitation on two taxiways, including ensuring the structural integrity of the taxiway and adding LED safety lighting.[24]

Rider Jet Center is the field fixed-base operator.[25] Dining is available at Runways Restaurant, although it is not directly accessible from the passenger terminal.

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled passenger service:

AirlinesDestinationsRefs
Allegiant Air Seasonal: Myrtle Beach, Orlando/Sanford, St. Petersburg/Clearwater [26]

Statistics
Carrier shares: August 2019 – July 2020[27]
Carrier   Passengers (arriving and departing)
Allegiant
37,910(95.27%)
Sun
1,880(4.73%)
Top domestic destinations: August 2019 – July 2020[27]
Rank City Airport name & IATA code Passengers
1 Sanford, FL Orlando Sanford International (SFB) 14,570
2 St. Petersburg, FL St. Pete-Clearwater International (PIE) 2,340
3 Myrtle Beach, SC Myrtle Beach (MYR) 2,000
4 Baltimore, MD Baltimore/Washington (BWI) 580
5 Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh International (PIT) 390

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Transportation
Check-in counters

Hagerstown Regional Airport is 15 minutes by car from downtown Hagerstown, and it is located directly off Interstate 81 and U.S. Route 11. Interstate 70 is 5 miles (8.0 km) south of the airport and the airport is accessible via Interstate 81. Parking at the airport is free. Car rental service are available at the airport. Taxi service is available to and from the airport upon request. Washington County Transit buses make regular stops at the airport, and there are also buses to nearby hotels.

Incidents
TSA security checkpoint

On February 19, 2005, a Cessna 402 landed without the right wheel of the main landing gear. The pilot managed to burn most of the fuel off to prevent a fire. The pilot was able to land on Runway 27 and all five people on board deplaned within minutes. Nobody was hurt. Several fire departments around the Tri-State area responded to the incident.

On July 23, 2009, a Robinson R-44 helicopter crashed shortly after taking off from Hagerstown Regional Airport. The helicopter crashed onto Interstate 70 near South Mountain at 10:30 p.m. Four people on board were killed and nobody on the ground was hurt.

References
  1. FAA Airport Form 5010 for HGR PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective April 5, 2012.
  2. "IATA Airport Code Search (HGR: Hagerstown / Wash. County Regional)". International Air Transport Association. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  3. "Enplanements for CY 2008". CY 2008 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.}}
  4. "Enplanements for CY 2010". CY 2010 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.}}
  5. "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A". National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010.}}
  6. Mitchell, Kent A. (Fall 2003). "The Hagerstown Airport". American Aviation Historical Society Journal. Vol. 48. Number 3.
  7. "Hagerstown Airport gets new runway". The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland). December 1, 2007. p. A4.
  8. "Hagerstown flights to Pittsburgh halted". Associated Press. Allegheny Times (Coraopolis, Pennsylvania). October 2, 2007.
  9. "Air Midwest to leave Hagerstown airport, MD". Associated Press. The Herald-Mail (Hagerstown, Maryland). June 27, 2007.
  10. "Commercial flights return to Hagerstown". The Record Herald (Waynesboro, Pennsylvania). September 18, 2008.
  11. Jacobson, Susan. "Direct flights to Maryland start". The Orlando Sentinel. November 16, 2008.
  12. Florea, Linda. "Airline cuts flights to Hagerstown, Md." The Orlando Sentinel. June 5, 2010. p. B3.
  13. "First Cape Air flights arrive in Hagerstown, MD". Associated Press. The Herald-Mail (Hagerstown, Maryland). March 25, 2009.
  14. "Governor O'Malley Welcomes New Air Service Between Hagerstown and BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport". Press Release. Maryland Department of Transportation. January 6, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
  15. "Hagerstown air service expansion delayed". The Cumberland Times-News. December 16, 2012. "Sun Air ... started flying between Hagerstown and Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia on Nov. 5, four days later than the carrier first expected."
  16. "Airline to offer flights to Florida, South Carolina from Hagerstown". The Frederick News-Post. March 31, 2011.
  17. Waters, Jr., Ed. "Direct Air halts winter flights". The Frederick News-Post. August 10, 2011.
  18. Heath, Dan (April 12, 2012). "Direct Air bankruptcy goes to Chapter 7". Plattsburgh Press-Republican. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  19. "Cardin, Mikulski, Delaney Laud EAS Waiver for Hagerstown Regional Airport." The Office of Sen. Benjamin Cardin. Targeted News Service. Press release. September 30, 2014.
  20. "Allegiant announces air service to Tampa Bay beginning in February". The Herald-Mail. November 12, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  21. "U.S. Department of Transportation Terminates EAS Waiver at Hagerstown Regional Airport". Aviation Pros. October 15, 2019.
  22. "Southern Airways service at airport to end Saturday". Aviation Pros. October 15, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  23. "Airport receives boost with new hangar". Public Opinion (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania). October 20, 2010. p. A10.
  24. "Mikulski, Cardin Announce $1,000,000 in Federal Funding to Improve Safety, Efficiency at Hagerstown Airport". The Office of Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. Targeted News Service. Press release. May 14, 2014.
  25. "Rider Jet Center".
  26. "Allegiant Air". Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  27. {"RITA - BTS - Transtats". Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Other sources
  • Essential Air Service documents (Docket OST-2006-25228) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
    • Order 2006-10-12 (October 25, 2006): selecting Mesa Air Group, Inc., d/b/a Air Midwest, Inc., to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Hagerstown, Maryland, consisting of two nonstop round trips a day to Pittsburgh International Airport, at the annual subsidy rate of $854,452, beginning 45 days after the date of service of this order, or when the carrier inaugurates two-round-trip service, whichever occurs first, through September 30, 2007.
    • Order 2008-12-33 (December 31, 2008): selecting Hyannis Air Service, Inc. d/b/a Cape Air, to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Hagerstown, Maryland, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, beginning when the carrier inaugurates service, through September 30, 2009, at the annual subsidy rates of $1,203,167 for Hagerstown and $1,372,474 for Lancaster.
    • Order 2010-10-1 (October 1, 2010): extending the current subsidy contract of Cape Air to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Hagerstown, Maryland, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, through September 30, 2011.
    • Order 2012-2-13 (February 17, 2012): extending the contract of Hyannis Air Service, Inc. d/b/a Cape Air to provide subsidized Essential Air Service (EAS) at Hagerstown, Maryland, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, until further notice; and requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing EAS at Hagerstown and/or Lancaster, through September 30, 2015, with or without subsidy.
    • Order 2012-8-9 (August 3, 2012): selecting Sun Air Express, LLC d/b/a Sun Air International, to provide subsidized Essential Air Service (EAS) with nine-passenger twin-engine Piper Chieftain aircraft at Hagerstown, Maryland, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, through September 30, 2015. The annual subsidy rate for Hagerstown will be set at $1,785,638, and $2,504,174 for Lancaster, or a combined total of $4,289,812.
    • Order 2014-4-26 (April 24, 2014): directing interested persons to show cause as to why the Department should not terminate the eligibility ... under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program based on criteria passed by Congress in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law No. 112-95). We find that Hagerstown is within 175 miles of a large or medium hub, Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), a large hub, and, thus, is subject to the 10-enplanement statutory criterion. We also find that during fiscal year 2013, Hagerstown generated a total of 2,419 passengers (inbound plus outbound). Consistent with the methodology described above, that results in an average of 3.9 enplanements per day, below the 10-enplanement statutory criterion necessary to remain eligible in the EAS program.
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