Kenmore Air Harbor Seaplane Base | |
Nativename: | Seattle Lake Union Seaplane Base |
Image Alt: | This picture shows the passenger loading area at the Kenmore Air Harbor Seaplane Base in Seattle, USA. Three planes are at the dock while one plane is taxiing in the waters of Lake Union. |
Iata: | LKE |
Faa: | W55 |
Type: | Public |
Owner: | Green Hornet Enterprises and Munro Banks Holdco |
City-Served: | Seattle, Washington |
Location: | Lake Union |
Pushpin Map: | USA Washington#USA |
Pushpin Relief: | yes |
Pushpin Label: | LKE |
Elevation-F: | 14 |
Elevation-M: | 4 |
Coordinates: | 47.6289°N -122.3386°W |
Website: | www.KenmoreAir.com |
Stat-Year: | 2007 |
Stat1-Header: | Aircraft operations |
Stat1-Data: | 35,500 |
Footnotes: | Sources: FAA,[1] WSDOT[2] |
R1-Surface: | Water |
R1-Length-F: | 5000 |
R1-Number: | 16/34 |
Kenmore Air Harbor Seaplane Base, or Seattle Lake Union Seaplane Base, is a seaplane base and international airport on Lake Union, Washington, U.S., north of Downtown Seattle.
Kenmore Air Harbor Seaplane Base is at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one 5000feet500feet seaplane landing area designated runway 16/34, which runs from Gas Works Park to the north to Lake Union Park in the south. A different seaplane base on the same lake, Seattle Seaplanes SPB, is assigned runway 18/36 that instead goes diagonally through the lake.[3]
For the 12 months ending December 31, 2022, the airport had 43,500 aircraft operations, an average of 119 per day: 82% air taxi and 18% general aviation.
The first seaplane flight from Lake Union was by William E. Boeing, on June 15, 1916. The lake has been served by commercial flights from Kenmore Air since 1946. In 2018, buoys and lights were installed in the lake to warn boaters of landing planes.[4] Despite the warnings, recreational watergoers have continued to use the public lake, leading to cancelled flights.[5]