Central Nebraska Regional Airport

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Central Nebraska Regional Airport
IATA: GRI - ICAO: KGRI
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Hall County Airport Authority
Serves Grand Island, Nebraska
Elevation AMSL 1,847 ft (563 m)
Coordinates 40°58′03″N, 98°18′34″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17/35 7,002 2,134 Asphalt
13/31 6,608 2,014 Concrete

Central Nebraska Regional Airport (IATA: GRI, ICAO: KGRI) is a public airport located three miles (5 km) northeast of the central business district (CBD) of Grand Island, a city in Hall County, Nebraska, USA. The airport covers 2,435 acres (985 ha) and has two runways. It is served by one commercial airline, with service subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

Air Midwest, operating as US Airways Express, commenced service on October 29, 2006, with two daily flights to Omaha Eppley Airfield and one daily flight to Kansas City International Airport. The nonstop flights to Omaha will continue on to Kansas City, allowing one-stop service to Kansas City on two additional flights.[1]

Central Nebraska Regional Airport was selected to be the site of a new Chinook Helicopter Base. The Nebraska National Guard has been on site since 2004, with ground scheduled to be broken in 2006 and the base opening in 2008.

Contents

[edit] Airline and destinations

[edit] History

During World War II the airport was known as Grand Island Army Airfield, and it was one of eleven United States Army Air Force training bases in Nebraska during World War II. The base was under the command of Second Air Force Headquarters, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The base's primary mission was to train pilots and aircrews of Boeing B-29 Superfortreses prior to their deployment to the South Pacific.

Known units that trained at Grand Island AAF were:

Wartime groups that deactivated at Grand Island AAF were:

The 242nd (Operational Training Unit, Very Heavy) of the 17th Bombardment Training Wing commanded the support elements at Grand Island AAF as part of Air Technical Service Command.

With the departure of the B-29s in late 1946, the USAAF closed Grand Island Army Airfield and the facility was turned over to local authorities to develop as a civil airport. However the military use of the base did not end entirely. During the 1960s, Grand Island Regional Airport was utilized by Convair F-106 Delta Darts of the 328th Fighter Wing, 326th FIS (Air Defense) of Aerospace Defense Command as a dispersal base. These aircraft were deployed from Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base outside of Kansas City, Missouri. These dispersal flights ended in 1968.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mesa Air Group Announces Schedule and Fares for Grand Island, Nebraska as US Airways Express (Oct. 9, 2006)

[edit] External links