Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport

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For the airport in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, see Hilton Head Airport.
Savannah / Hilton Head
International Airport
IATA: SAV – ICAO: KSAV – FAA: SAV
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner/Operator Savannah Airport Commission
Location Savannah, Georgia
Elevation AMSL 50 ft / 15.2 m
Coordinates 32°07′39″N 081°12′7″W / 32.1275, -81.20194
Website savannahairport.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
9/27 9,351 2,850 Concrete
18/36 7,002 2,134 Concrete
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations 102,852
Based aircraft 112
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (IATA: SAV, ICAO: KSAV, FAA LID: SAV), formerly Savannah International Airport, Travis Field and Chatham Field, is located 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Savannah, Georgia just off Interstate 95, between Savannah and the city of Pooler, Georgia. Nearly 40% of passengers who fly through Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport are bound for Hilton Head Island, South Carolina which is approximately 38.5 miles away by car (42 minute trip).[2][3]

While, despite the airport's name, there are currently no scheduled commercial flights outside the US from Savannah, U.S. Customs facilities are on the field and the airport is part of a Foreign Trade Zone. As of 2003, Savannah/Hilton Head had 96,816 annual operations (takeoffs & landings) and 887,095 passenger enplanements, making it the second busiest commercial airport in Georgia.[4]

A terminal expansion project was completed in July of 2007 which added 5 departure gates, for a total of 15.[2] A $35 million parking garage was completed in October of 2007 which added 1,700 parking spaces and uses an electronic program to alert drivers to the number of available spaces on each garage level.[2]

The airport services Delta (along with Delta Connection carriers ASA and Comair), Continental Express, Northwest Airlink, United Express, US Airways, American Eagle Airlines and AirTran Airways. An information counter provides local information regarding the coastal areas of Georgia and southern South Carolina.

The airport serves as world headquarters to Gulfstream Aerospace. The Georgia Air National Guard's 165th Airlift Wing is based at Savannah/Hilton Head International.

Contents

[edit] History

Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport was originally named Chatham Field and developed as a Works Progress Administration project at Cherokee Hill, one of the highest elevations in Chatham County, Georgia. It was taken over by the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, renamed Travis Field, and then granted back to the city government in 1948. The city's original airport, Hunter Field, came under United States Army Air Corps control in 1940 and served as an Air Force Field until the 1970's when it was taken under control by the United States Army and remains a subsidiary of the Army Post Fort Stewart, Located in Hinesville, GA

Savannah's first commercial passenger flight was operated by Eastern Air Transport in 1931 as part of its New York-Miami service. Jet service by Delta Air Lines began in 1965 using the Douglas DC-9.

A six-gate terminal built in 1960 was replaced by the current facility in 1994. Although it serves no international destinations directly, the airport was renamed Savannah International in 1983, then Savannah/Hilton Head International in 2003.

3680 feet from the west end of Runway 9 (the main east-west runway) are two concrete grave markers of the original owners of the airport property. A runway extension project placed the runway through the family plot, and since the family did not want the remains moved, the markers were placed in the asphalt runway. This is the only runway in the country that has marked graves in it.

[edit] Facilities

Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport covers 3,650 acres and has two runways:

  • Runway 9/27: 9,351 x 150 ft. (2,850 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete
  • Runway 18/36: 7,002 x 150 ft. (2,134 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete

[edit] Airlines and destinations

An Airtran Boening 717 at Savannah Hilton Head International
An Airtran Boening 717 at Savannah Hilton Head International

[edit] References

  1. ^ FAA Airport Master Record for SAV (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-12-20
  2. ^ a b c "Savannah/Hilton Head Airport expands, updates," Delta Sky Magazine, December 2007. Accessed March 21, 2008.
  3. ^ Directions from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport to 100 William Hilton Parkway on Hilton Head Island Mapquest, Accessed March 21, 2008.
  4. ^ "Georgia Aviation System Plan Airport Summary Report" Updated Summer 2003, Accessed March 21, 2008.

[edit] External links


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The City of Savannah
"The Hostess City of the South"
Category  • Metropolitan area