Modesto City-County Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Modesto City-County Airport Harry Sham Field

IATA: MOD - ICAO: KMOD - FAA: MOD
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		City of Modesto
Serves		Modesto, California
Elevation AMSL		97 ft (29.6 m)
Coordinates		37°37′33″N, 120°57′16″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
10L/28R	5,911	1,802	Asphalt
10R/28L	3,459	1,054	Asphalt

Modesto City-County Airport (IATA: MOD, ICAO: KMOD, FAA LID: MOD), also known as Harry Sham Field, is located two miles (3 km) southeast of the central business district (CBD) of Modesto, a city in Stanislaus County, California, USA.

1 History
2 Facilities
3 Airline and destinations
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Modesto City-County Airport was first opened for general aviation operations in 1929. At first the airport located southeast of downtown Modesto was only 82 acres (33 ha); but over the years, it grew to its present size of 435 acres (176 ha). The airport started with only a single runway, but a second runway was added in the 1950s.

Originally, the airport was named Modesto Municipal Airport; and on May 25 1955 when Stanislaus County and the City of Modesto became partners in the airport, the airport was renamed Modesto City-County Airport. In October 1974, Harry Sham Field was added to the name to honor the airport manager that served between 1949 and 1968. During World War II, Modesto Airport was used as a military auxiliary air base to train U.S. Air Corps pilots.

Air carrier service was first offered to the community in 1946 when United Airlines opened its newly constructed terminal and began the Valley Queen service. Since 1946, Modesto has had continuous air service. United Airlines provided service with either DC-3s or B-737s until 1978 when the airline industry was deregulated. Since 1978, Modesto has had regional air carrier’s service to San Francisco bay area airports. Still today, United Airlines presence is in the community, as their United Express partner SkyWest Airlines offers daily service to SFO and LAX where a passenger can make a connection to their final destination.

On October 12, 1991, the Modesto City Council and Stanislaus Board of Supervisors rededicated the remodeled passenger terminal that was enlarged to 8,900 square feet (830 m²). The remodeling project upgraded the building originally built by United Airlines.

In the 1990s, corporate and business aviation became the fastest growing segment of activity for the airport. Corporate jets provide their owners with convenient point-to-point service. In 2001, Modesto was the base for at least eight corporate jets. These aircraft have a combined appraised value of approximately $115.0 million, which brings the community approximately $1,115,000 in annual property taxes.

Mid-2006 saw a change to MOD Airport. United Express/SkyWest Airlines added four flights a day to/from LAX and an additional flight to SFO to total 5 flights a day to/from San Francisco. As a result, passenger counts have continued to grow. In 2002, passenger counts averaged 3,035 per month; over the first six months of 2007, that amount has grown to an average of 7,739 passengers per month.

[edit] Facilities

Modesto City-County Airport has two runways:

Runway 10L/28R: 5,911 x 150 ft. (1,802 x 46 m) asphalt, Pavements 60/200/400, HIRL, MALSR, PCL 9:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m. (Freq 125.3) VASI - RW 10L.
Runway 10R/28L: 3,459 x 100 ft. (1,054 x 30 m) asphalt, Pavements 30/-/-, MIRL, not available when tower closed, PAPI - RW 10R/28L.