| Concord–Padgett Regional Airport | |
| Iata: | USA |
| Icao: | KJQF |
| Faa: | JQF |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | City of Concord |
| City-Served: | Charlotte metropolitan area |
| Location: | Concord, North Carolina |
| Operating Base: | Allegiant Air |
| Elevation-F: | 705 |
| Coordinates: | 35.3878°N -80.7092°W |
| Image Mapsize: | 200 |
| Image Map Caption: | FAA airport diagram |
| Mapframe: | yes |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 10 |
| Mapframe-Wikidata: | yes |
| R1-Number: | 2/20 |
| R1-Length-F: | 7,402 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2022 |
| Stat1-Header: | Aircraft operations (year ending 5/31/2022) |
| Stat1-Data: | 86,654 |
| Stat2-Header: | Based aircraft |
| Stat2-Data: | 233 |
| Footnotes: | Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] |
Concord–Padgett Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located 7nmi west of the central business district of Concord, a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States. According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013,[2] it is classified as a reliever airport for Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, Concord–Padgett Regional Airport is assigned JQF by the FAA but had no designation from the IATA until August 22, 2013, when it was assigned USA by the IATA.[3] The airport's ICAO identifier is KJQF.
Because multiple race car teams that base aircraft fleets at JQF and the airport’s proximity to the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the airport is sometimes referred to as "NASCAR's Airport."
In April 2018, the airport was renamed to honor longtime Mayor of Concord, Scott Padgett. An official ceremony was held on November 18, 2019 for the airport's 25th anniversary.[4]
Concord-Padgett Regional Airport covers an area of 750acres at an elevation of 705 feet (215 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 2/20 with an asphalt surface measuring 7,402 by 100 feet (2,256 x 30 m).
For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2022, the airport had 86,654 aircraft operations, an average of 237 per day: 87% general aviation, 9% air taxi, 1% military and 4% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 233 aircraft based at this airport: 161 single-engine, 29 multi-engine, 35 jet and 8 helicopter.
Since the airport's expansion of its runway to accommodate mid-size commercial aircraft in the early 2000s, the airport has been quite popular among local NASCAR teams. Teams charter flights out of Concord-Padgett instead of Charlotte Douglas because of its affordability and proximity to their headquarters.
On August 20, 2013, Allegiant Air announced it would begin nonstop jet service between Concord and Orlando Sanford International Airport in December 2013. Since then the airline has expanded its nonstop service to several other vacation destinations in Florida as well as announcing new nonstop service to New Orleans. An existing hangar to the left of the main terminal was converted to a separate temporary terminal for this new commercial service. A larger permanent commercial service terminal opened in October 2016. According to FlightAware, Allegiant serves the airport with Airbus A320 jetliners.[5] On March 4, 2020, Allegiant announced Concord would be the airline's 21st operating base, housing two Airbus planes beginning October 7, 2020.[6]
| Rank | City | Passengers | Airlines | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Florida | 34,810 | Allegiant | |
| 2 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | 31,360 | Allegiant | |
| 3 | Orlando/Sanford, Florida | 30,650 | Allegiant | |
| 4 | Punta Gorda, Florida | 17,460 | Allegiant | |
| 5 | New Haven, Connecticut | 1,450 | Avelo |
| Rank | Airline | Passengers | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allegiant Airlines | 227,000 | 98.74% |
| 2 | Avelo Airlines | 2,900 | 1.26% |