Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (IATA: MSL, ICAO: KMSL, FAA LID: MSL) is located 1 nautical mile (2 km) east of Muscle Shoals, in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is owned by the counties of Colbert and Lauderdale. The airport is used for general aviation and is served by one airline, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program at a cost of $2,603,365 (per year).
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2015-2019 categorized it as a non-primary commercial service facility. As per the Federal Aviation Administration, it had 2,345 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2013, a decrease of 43.6% from 4,160 enplanements in 2012.
Formerly, the airport operated as Muscle Shoals Auxiliary Field.
Video Northwest Alabama Regional Airport
History
Military
The airport opened as Muscle Shoals Auxiliary Field opened in February 1940, but in 1942 it was taken over by the United States Army Air Forces as a World War II pilot training military airfield. It was assigned to the AAF Flying Training Command, Southeast Training Center (later Eastern Flying Training Command) as a basic (stage 2) pilot training airfield. Pilot training at the airfield apparently ended on May 30, 1944, with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program. The airfield was returned to civil control at the end of the war.
Recent
Prior to summer 2009, Muscle Shoals was served from Northwest Airlines' hub in Memphis via Northwest Airlink turboprop service operated by Mesaba Airlines. After Northwest was acquired by Delta Air Lines, service was transferred to Delta's larger hub in Atlanta. This has seen increased passenger numbers and less market leakage to nearby Huntsville Airport. Despite the increase in enplanements, on November 23, 2010, Delta announced that it would not re-apply for the Essential Air Service subsidy to provide service between Muscle Shoals and Memphis. The cited reason was the retirement of partner Mesaba's Saab 340 turboprop fleet. Under federal law, Delta Connection must continue service to Muscle Shoals until a replacement carrier is found. In 2011, Air Choice One, a Missouri-based carrier, submitted a proposal to the US DOT to serve Muscle Shoals with flights to either Atlanta, Nashville or Memphis. Pending acceptance of the proposal, the airline was planning to begin flights in as little as 30 days. This airline never commenced service to Muscle Shoals.
Eastern Airlines stopped at Muscle Shoals from 1947 to 1964. Southern Airways Douglas DC-9s flew nonstop to Atlanta and via Huntsville, and Southern Martin 4-0-4s flew to Memphis. Southern merged with North Central to form Republic, which continued at Muscle Shoals with DC-9-50s to Atlanta and with Convair 580s and Metroliners to Memphis. Republic was acquired by Northwest Airlines which ended jet flights to Atlanta but started Northwest Airlink service to Memphis with Jetstream 31s. Northwest Airlink replaced the Jetstreams with larger Saab 340s before all service ended.
Beginning in October 2012, Muscle Shoals was served by Silver Airways with two daily flights to Atlanta. Due to constant delays and cancellations, ridership declined to about 3 passengers per day under Silver, below EAS guidelines. Silver discontinued service to Muscle Shoals in October 2014. SeaPort Airlines announced it would take Silver's place in the Fall of 2014,SeaPort began daily flights to Nashville and Memphis on January 12, 2015. Seaport service lasted less than one year and ended on October 20, 2015.
The US Department of Transportation awarded the EAS contract to Boutique Air. The airline contracted to operate 24 weekly returns to Atlanta and/or Nashville. The contract will run from February 1, 2016 through to February 28, 2018. Boutique Air service began February 24, 2016.
Maps Northwest Alabama Regional Airport
Facilities and aircraft
The airport covers 640 acres (259 ha) at an elevation of 551 feet (168 m). It has two asphalt runways: 11/29 is 6,694 by 150 feet (2,040 x 46 m) and 18/36 is 4,000 by 100 feet (1,219 x 30 m).
For the 12 months ending November 30, 2012, the airport had 44,490 aircraft operations, an average 122 per day: 94.4% general aviation, 1.6% air carrier, 0.6% air taxi, and 3.4% military. There are 62 aircraft based at this airport: 61% single-engine, 23% multi-engine, 6% jet, and 10% helicopter.
Airlines and destinations
Scheduled passenger service:
Statistics
See also
- List of airports in Alabama
- Southern Airways Flight 242
References
External links
- Northwest Alabama Regional Airport, official site
- Aerial image as of February 1999 from USGS The National Map
- FAA Terminal Procedures for MSL, effective March 29, 2018
- AC-U-KWIK information for KMSL
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for MSL
- AirNav airport information for KMSL
- ASN accident history for MSL
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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