Concord–Padgett Regional Airport Explained

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]

Facilities and aircraft

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.

NASCAR

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.

Commercial passenger service

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]

Statistics

Top destinations

Busiest domestic routes from Concord Regional
(June 2023 – May 2024)
[7]
RankCityPassengersAirlines
1St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Florida34,810Allegiant
2Fort Lauderdale, Florida31,360Allegiant
3Orlando/Sanford, Florida30,650Allegiant
4Punta Gorda, Florida17,460Allegiant
5New Haven, Connecticut1,450Avelo

Airline market share

[8]
RankAirlinePassengersShare
1Allegiant Airlines227,00098.74%
2Avelo Airlines2,9001.26%

See also

References

  1. . Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 8 April 2010.
  2. http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/ National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
  3. A search run on iata.org shows the three-letter code USA is assigned to Concord.
  4. News: Soaring to 25 years: City of Concord officially names airport after longtime mayor, celebrates 25 years. Thompson. Adam. Independent Tribune. 18 November 2019. 19 November 2019.
  5. http://www.flightaware.com, KJQF flight tracking
  6. Web site: Allegiant Air to spend $50 million to create Concord airport base, add dozens of jobs . . March 4, 2020 . March 7, 2020 . Smoot, Hannah.
  7. Web site: Concord, NC: Concord-Padgett Regional (USA) . . February 22, 2018.
  8. Web site: Concord, NC: Concord Padgett Regional (USA).

External links