Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport

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Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport
IATA: AMA - ICAO: KAMA - FAA: AMA
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		City of Amarillo
Serves		Amarillo, Texas
Elevation AMSL		3,607 ft (1,099.4 m)
Coordinates		35°13′10″N, 101°42′21″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
4/22	13,502	4,115	Concrete
13/31	7,901	2,408	Concrete

Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport (IATA: AMA, ICAO: KAMA, FAA LID: AMA) is a public airport located six miles (10 km) east of the central business district (CBD) of Amarillo, a city in Potter County, Texas, USA. The airport covers 3,547 acres and has two runways. It was named after fallen Columbia astronaut Rick Husband, an Amarillo native.

1 History
2 Airlines and destinations
3 References
- 3.1 Notes
4 External links

[edit] History

Harold English opened this airport as English Field in 1929. Also in 1929, Transcontinental & Western Air (the forerunner to TWA) inaugurated the first commercial airline service through Amarillo. The original name is memorialized in the English Fieldhouse, a local restaurant located adjacent to the general aviation terminal. Regularly scheduled service to Lubbock, Texas was provided by Braniff International, Continental Airlines and Trans-Texas Airways in the past. Additionally, Trans World Airlines provided regularly scheduled service to such cities as Wichita, Chicago, Albuquerque and Los Angeles from this facility.

In 1952, the name changed to Amarillo Air Terminal. After the adjacent Amarillo Air Force Base was closed in 1968, a portion of it was converted to civilian use and became part of the airport. The primary instrument runway, while originally constructed as part of the former USAF Strategic Air Command base, remains among the longest commercial runways in the United States, and it is still used by military pilots today. In 1976, the airport changed its name to Amarillo International Airport upon the opening of a U.S. Customs facility. Its current name was adopted following the 2003 loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, which was commanded by Amarillo native Rick Husband.

The original English Field terminal building was converted in 1997 to a museum maintained by the Texas Aviation Historical Society.^[1]