Midland International Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Midland/Odessa International Airport

IATA: MAF – ICAO: KMAF
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		City of Midland
Location		Midland, Texas
Elevation AMSL		2,871 ft / 875 m
Coordinates		31°56′33.1000″N 102°12′06.8900″W / 31.942527778, -102.2019139
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
16R/34L	9,501	2,896	Asphalt
4/22	4,605	1,404	Asphalt
10/28	8,302	2,530	Asphalt
16L/34R	4,339	1,323	Asphalt

Midland/Odessa International Airport (IATA: MAF, ICAO: KMAF) is a commercially serviced airport located 8 miles (12.9 kilometers) southwest of central Midland and northeast of central Odessa in Midland, Midland County, Texas.

Midland/Odessa International Airport is the 9th busiest airport in Texas. Since 1991 it has been the headquarters of the Commemorative Air Force. The airport has 4 runways. The airport has 4 airlines but most of the airlines have commuter jet service with Southwest Airlines offering larger jets. Southwest Airlines is also the largest carrier at the airport. In 2006 473,986 passengers were enplaned, up 6.24% from 2005.

1 History
2 Airlines and destinations
3 See Also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

Midland-Odessa Regional Airport (MAF) opened its new passenger terminal in the early 1960s. At the time, MAF was served by Continental and Trans-Texas, both of whom operated popular point-to-point services linking West Texas towns.

The terminal was identified by its scalloped roofline, which allowed a column-free interior. All services - ticketing, baggage claim and concessions, were located inside the building, and a single departure lounge opened up onto the apron. Continental and Trans-Texas both introduced DC9 jet flights in the late 1960s.

This layout served the airport well until the late 1970s 'oil boom' hit Midland-Odessa. Rapid economic growth in the two cities led to a dramatic increase in flights, by both the incumbent airlines and new-entrant carriers like Southwest Airlines. After airline deregulation in 1978, American and Delta began flights, followed by start-up America West a few years later.

To cope with the rising demand, a new gate area was constructed along the apron. Included in the plan were four second-level gates equipped with jetbridges, concession space, and escalator wells linking the addition to the existing terminal. The south end of the main terminal was extended to include more ticketing space, and the original terminal was modernized (the scalloped roofline was removed).

By the 1990s, several of the new-entrant carriers had pulled out and most of the remaining airlines had downgraded to regional jets. Only Southwest, the airport's largest carrier, operated mainline jet flights.

The terminal building, however, had begun to look tired, and airport officials began planning for a more modern replacement. Construction began on the facility (which would be located in the infield parking lot) in 1996. The first half of the new terminal was opened in early 1999, at which point the 1966 terminal was closed and demolished. The second half of the new terminal was finished in late 1999.

Until the September 11th attacks, everyone was allowed access to the second floor, since then, however, only passengers are allowed past the security checkpoints.

In 2008, Southwest Airlines dropped all direct flight to El Paso, due to decreased passenger counts to that city, An afternoon flight to Austin has also been dropped even though negotiations are underway to keep that flight. Emplanements at the Airport are at the highest they have ever been yet more and more flights from MAF are being lost