Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport

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Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport
IATA: SAV - ICAO: KSAV
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Savannah Airport Commission
Serves		Savannah, Georgia
Elevation AMSL		50 ft (15.2 m)
Coordinates		32°07′39.3″N, 81°12′7.7″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
9/27	9,351	2,850	Concrete
18/36	7,002	2,134	Concrete

This article is about the airport in Georgia. For the smaller airport in South Carolina, see the article on Hilton Head Airport.

Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (IATA: SAV, ICAO: KSAV), formerly Savannah International Airport, Travis Field and Chatham Field, is located 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Savannah, Georgia, near Hilton Head Island, South Carolina in the United States. While there are currently no scheduled commercial flights outside the US from Savannah, U.S. Customs facilities are on the field and the airport is part of a Foreign Trade Zone. In 2004 it was announced the airport would add 5 new gates making the main concourse a total of 15 gates.

The airport is just off Interstate 95, between Savannah and the city of Pooler, Georgia. It has 10 gates, and services Delta (along with Delta Connection carriers ASA and Comair), Continental Express, Northwest Airlink, United Express, US Airways, American Eagle Airlines and AirTran Airways. An information counter provides local information regarding the coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina.

The airport serves as world headquarters to Gulfstream Aerospace. The Georgia Air National Guard 165th Airlift Wing is based at Savannah/Hilton Head International.

As of 2003, Savannah/Hilton Head had 96,816 annual operations (takeoffs & landings) and 887,095 passenger enplanements, making it the second busiest commercial airport in Georgia. [1]

1 History
2 Facilities
3 Airlines
4 External links

[edit] History

Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport was originally named Chatham Field and developed as a Works Progress Administration project at Cherokee Hill, one of the highest elevations in Chatham County, Georgia. It was taken over by the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, renamed Travis Field, and then granted back to the city government in 1948. The city's original airport, Hunter Field, came under Army control in 1940 and is still an Army Airfield.

Savannah's first commercial passenger flight was operated by Eastern Air Transport in 1931 as part of its New York-Miami service. Jet service by Delta Air Lines began in 1965 using the Douglas DC-9.

A six-gate terminal built in 1960 was replaced by the current facility in 1994. The airport was renamed Savannah International in 1983 and then Savannah/Hilton Head International in 2003.[2]

One of the more grim aspects of the Airport is the little known "graveyard" under one of the taxiways south of the terminal. Two stones are sunk flush into the concrete honoring the two that eternally lie there under the concrete. This is pretty much a little known fact that is only told between employees of the airport. As an employee, you could request a "graveyard tour" from a personnel from maintenance to take you out on the taxiway to show you the headstones. A good bit of airline captains get clearance from the tower to taxi by the area to see it as well.