Owensboro–Daviess County Regional Airport Explained

Owensboro–Daviess County Airport
Iata:OWB
Icao:KOWB
Faa:OWB
Type:Public
Owner:Owensboro City & Daviess County
City-Served:Owensboro, Kentucky
Elevation-F:407
Elevation-M:124
Coordinates:37.7389°N -87.1669°W
Image Mapsize:200
Image Map Caption:FAA airport diagram
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Zoom:10
Mapframe-Wikidata:yes
R1-Number:18/36
R1-Length-F:8,000
R1-Length-M:2,438
R1-Surface:Concrete
R2-Number:6/24
R2-Length-F:5,000
R2-Length-M:1,524
R2-Surface:Asphalt/Concrete
Stat1-Header:Aircraft operations (2018)
Stat1-Data:19,991
Stat2-Header:Based aircraft (2019)
Stat2-Data:49
Footnotes:Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Owensboro–Daviess County Airport is a public use airport located three miles southwest of Owensboro, in Daviess County, Kentucky. The airport is owned by both the city and county. One airline schedules passenger flights, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

Federal Aviation Administration records say this airport had 23,537 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2016.[2] The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport.[3]

Facilities

Owensboro–Daviess County Airport covers 880 acres (356 ha) at an elevation of 407 feet (124 m). It has two runways: 18/36 is 8,000 by 150 feet (2,438 x 46 m) concrete and 6/24 is 5,000 by 100 feet (1,524 x 30 m) asphalt/concrete.In the year ending April 30, 2018 the airport had 19,991 aircraft operations, an average of 55 per day: 76% general aviation, 13% air taxi, 10% military, and 1% commercial airline. In June 2019, 49 aircraft were based at this airport: 35 single-engine, 6 multi-engine, 7 jet and 1 ultralight.

Airlines and destinations

History

Eastern Airlines landed at Owensboro from 1951 to 1964, and Ozark Airlines from 1955 to 1975 (including DC-9s circa 1972).

RegionsAir operating as AmericanConnection flew to St. Louis until March 2007. The next EAS contract was awarded to Big Sky Airlines (Delta Connection), with service to Cincinnati scheduled to begin in June 2007. Big Sky began service in November 2007 and abruptly ended operations in January 2008.[4] Great Lakes Aviation was awarded a contract but ultimately cancelled.[5] Owensboro was without scheduled air service from January 7, 2008, until August 31, 2009, when Pacific Wings operating as KentuckySkies was awarded the Essential Air Service contract offering flights to Nashville. On June 30, 2011, Pacific Wings notified the USDOT of their intent to end service at OWB, saying that they were "unable to procure counter or gate space at Nashville International Airport on reasonable terms," and on October 20, 2011 American Airlines code-share partner Cape Air was selected to operate flights to their hub at Lambert–St. Louis International Airport[6] with service beginning on December 5, 2011.On February 19, 2009 Allegiant Air began flying Owensboro to Orlando Sanford International Airport; it flew to Las Vegas as well. The airline ended flights to Las Vegas on August 13, 2012, but resumed them later. After 14 years, they discontinued the operations on May 29, 2023.

Due to inflation, Cape Air opted in late 2022 to cease operations out of Owensboro before the end of their contract, which was scheduled to end in 2023. Contour Airlines was chosen to replace Cape Air and commence operations to and from Charlotte.[7] However, both Contour Airlines and Owensboro Airport later decided to change the twelve Owensboro flights per week to go to Chicago O'Hare International Airport instead of Charlotte, as Charlotte was already served by the nearby Evansville Regional Airport, but service to Chicago has been suspended from Evansville Regional Airport since 2021.[8] Department of Transportation approved this change on May 30, 2023.[9] The service started on August 1, 2023.[10]

Statistics

Top domestic destinations: (January 2023 - December 2023)[11] ! Rank! Airport ! Passengers! Airline
1Orlando Sanford International (SFB)5,640Allegiant
2Chicago O'Hare (ORD)2,660Contour
3Nashville International (BNA)1,570Cape Air
4Lambert–St. Louis International (STL)900Cape Air

See also

Other sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. . Federal Aviation Administration. effective June 20, 2019.
  2. Web site: 2016 Primary, Non-primary Commercial Service, and General Aviation Airports (by State) . CY 2016 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data . October 5, 2017 .
  3. Web site: 2013–2017 NPIAS Report, Appendix A . National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems . Federal Aviation Administration . September 27, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140501134703/http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/reports/media/2013/npias2013AppendixA.pdf . May 1, 2014.
  4. News: Airline Departing, flights expected to continue . Lee Denney and Matt Weafer . Messenger-Inquirer . 2008-01-10 . 2008-01-20.
  5. News: Air service awarded to Great Lakes; flights may be to St. Louis . Jackson Sun . 2008-02-03 . 2008-02-03.
  6. News: Docket DOT-OST-2000-7855 ORDER TENTATIVELY SELECTING CARRIER. USDOT. 2011-10-20 . 2011-11-02.
  7. Web site: Richardson . Ryan . January 18, 2023 . OWB board recommends jet service to Charlotte; flights to Nashville and St. Louis would cease . May 28, 2023 . The Owensboro Times . en-US.
  8. Web site: Watkins . Monica . Mehling . Steve . 2023-06-06 . Chicago flights announced from Owensboro . 2023-12-04 . www.14news.com . en.
  9. Web site: ORDER APPROVING ALTERNATE SERVICE PATTERN . September 2, 2023 . downloads.regulations.gov.
  10. Web site: Richardson . Ryan . June 7, 2023 . OWB to offer daily jet service to Chicago starting August 1 . June 8, 2023 . The Owensboro Times . en-US.
  11. Web site: Owensboro, KY: Owensboro Daviess County (OWB) . . 2 July 2019 .