Chester County G. O. Carlson Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chester County G. O. Carlson Airport
IATA: CTH – ICAO: KMQS – FAA: MQS
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Chester County Area Airport Authority
Location		Coatesville, Pennsylvania
Elevation AMSL		660 ft / 201 m
Coordinates		39°58′44″N 075°51′56″W / 39.97889, -75.86556
Website		www.chestercountyairport.com
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
11/29	5,400	1,646	Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations			50,284
Based aircraft			109
Source: Federal Aviation Administration^[1]

Chester County G. O. Carlson Airport (IATA: CTH, ICAO: KMQS, FAA LID: MQS) is a public-use airport located two miles (3 km) west of the central business district of Coatesville, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned by the Chester County Area Airport Authority.^[1]

Chester County's airport identifier was formely 40N, but it has recenty changed to MQS. The airport is adjacent to Keystone Heliport. JetDirect Aviation, a fixed base operator, and The Flying Machine Cafe, a restaurant, are both located on field, near the main offices. Flight training is offered by Chester County Aviation, also located on field.

Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, Chester County Airport is assigned MQS by the FAA and CTH by the IATA^[2] (which assigned MQS to Mustique Airport on Mustique island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines^[3]).

1 History
2 Facilities and aircraft
3 Expansion
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The airport first opened May 1, 1928 as Coatesville Airport and was owned and operated by the City of Coatesville. In 1959, Chester County purchased the airport and took over operations. At this time, the Chester County Area Airport Authority was formed and the airport was renamed to the Chester County Airport. After only three years, in 1962, the airport was renamed to its current name in honor of the first Authority chairman, G. O. Carlson.^[4]

[edit] Facilities and aircraft

Chester County G. O. Carlson Airport covers an area of 250 acres (101 ha) which contains one asphalt paved runway designated 11/29 and measuring 5,400 x 100 ft. (1,646 x 30 m). For the 12-month period ending November 17, 2006, the airport had 50,284 aircraft operations, an average of 137 per day: 94% general aviation, 6% air taxi and <1% military. There are 109 aircraft based at this airport: 72% single-engine, 11% multi-engine and 17% jet.

[edit] Expansion

As part of the 12-year-plan for the airport, many construction projects are planned for the airport. A new apron, is planned south of the current runway. New hangers will be built to accommodate corporate jets. The biggest project planned is that of building a brand new 6000 foot long runway that will be more aligned with the usual winds at the airport. This runway will not replace the current runway, but simply add a new option for arriving and departing traffic. A control tower is also being discussed for the future, if traffic increases.^[5]