Olympia Airport

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Olympia Airport Olympia Regional Airport
FAA airport diagram
IATA: OLM – ICAO: KOLM – FAA: OLM
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Port of Olympia
Serves		Olympia, Washington
Location		Tumwater, Washington
Elevation AMSL		209 ft / 64 m
Coordinates		46°58′10″N 122°54′09″W / 46.96944, -122.9025
Website		www.PortOlympia.com/airport
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
8/26	4,157	1,267	Asphalt
17/35	5,501	1,677	Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations			74,796
Based aircraft			189
Source: Federal Aviation Administration^[1]

Olympia Airport (IATA: OLM, ICAO: KOLM, FAA LID: OLM), also known as Olympia Regional Airport, is a public airport located four miles (6 km) south of the central business district of Olympia, a city in Thurston County and the capital of the U.S. state of Washington. The airport is owned by the Port of Olympia.^[1] It is about one mile east of Interstate 5, actually within the boundaries of the city of Tumwater which is south of and adjacent to Olympia. The airport has two runways, a passenger terminal, a FAA control tower, and a full-instrument landing approach system.

The field is home to flight instruction, both fixed wing and helicopter, major oxygen and aircraft maintenance facilities, the Washington State Patrol aviation division, and a key navigational aid (Olympia VOR) for commercial flights inbound to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and general aviation aircraft in the region. The airport averages 254 takeoffs or landings a day.

The airport served as a satellite of nearby McChord Field (now AFB) during World War II, and commercial aviation history at the Olympia Airport extends to the 1920's. The airport now supports large corporate jets, cargo aircraft, military helicopters and has a back-up runway lighting system for uninterrupted operations. Olympia Airport also has an Instrument Landing System and backup power system for operations during bad weather or low visibility.

The airport is in the midst of a federally funded $15 million improvement project to make it a safer facility, including runway line-of-sight enhancements during summer of 2007. The project requires the closure of 3,300 feet of runway 17-35 through September, 2007, making runway 8-26 (generally the crosswind runway) the primary runway.

The airport's industrial park, 300 acres in extent, includes a U.S. Department of Commerce designated Free Trade Zone.

Olympic Flight Museum is located at the Olympia Airport, and Airlift Northwest, the region's air medical transport service uses the airport as one of its medical helicopter bases. The flight museum and the airport plays host to a moderate sized air show each June.

[edit] Facilities and aircraft

Olympia Airport covers an area of 1,632 acres (660 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 8/26 measuring 4,157 x 150 ft. (1,267 x 46 m) and 17/35: 5,501 x 150 ft. (1,677 x 46 m).^[1]

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 74,796 aircraft operations, an average of 204 per day: 96% general aviation, 2% air taxi and 2% military. There are 189 aircraft based at this airport: 77% single engine, 6% multi-engine, 3% jet aircraft and 14% helicopters.^[1]