Miami Seaplane Base

Miami Seaplane Base
IATA: MPB – ICAO: none – FAA: X44
Summary
Airport type		Public use
Owner		City of Miami Property Mgmt Section
Operator		Dimitri Iturria
Serves		Miami, Florida
Location		Dade County, Florida
Elevation AMSL		0 ft / 0 m
Coordinates		25°46′42″N 080°10′13″W / 25.77833, -80.17028
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
NW/SE	15,000	4,572	Water
Statistics (2002)
Aircraft operations			1,950
Based aircraft			0
Source: Federal Aviation Administration^[1]

Miami Seaplane Base (IATA: MPB, FAA LID: X44) is a public-use seaplane base located 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the central business district of Miami on Watson Island in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The seaplane base is publicly owned.^[1]

[edit] History

In 1926, Chalk's International Airlines built an air terminal on a landfill island, Watson Island, where it continued to operate for 75 years. Chalk's moved its main base to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after the attacks of September 11, 2001, because of security concerns around the Port of Miami-Dade and increased helicopter traffic around Watson Island.