Richmond International Airport

Richmond International Airport
IATA: RICICAO: KRICFAA LID: RIC
RIC
Location of the Richmond International Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Capital Region Airport Commission
Serves Richmond, Virginia
Location Sandston, Virginia
Elevation AMSL 167 ft / 50.9 m
Website www.flyrichmond.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
16/34 9,003 2,744 Asphalt
2/20 6,607 2,014 Asphalt
7/25 5,326 1,623 Asphalt
Statistics (2009, 2010)
Aircraft operations (2009) 104,884
Based aircraft (2009) 73
Passengers (2010) 3,311,747
Source: Federal Aviation Administration,[1] ACI[2]

Richmond International Airport (IATA: RICICAO: KRICFAA LID: RIC) is a joint civil-military public airport located in Sandston, Virginia, an unincorporated community within Henrico County which is about 5 miles (8 km) east of Richmond.

Richmond International Airport is the busiest airport in central Virginia. The airport is located seven miles (11 km) southeast of Richmond, Virginia's capital.

Contents

Overview

Eight air carriers currently serve Richmond International Airport with non-stop flights to 21 destinations and connecting flights to destinations worldwide. A record 3.63 million passengers used Richmond International Airport in 2007 with growth expected to continue.

To help accommodate the current and proposed increase in passengers and air service, Richmond International Airport has embarked on a major expansion program. The program has increased the total number of gates, increased parking spaces to 8,000, and created a new terminal roadway and air traffic control tower. It features major renovations of the terminal building including upper level departures and lower level arrivals, the construction of a central utility plant and the widening of the security check points. Construction on the new two-level terminal was completed in spring 2007.

Richmond International Airport also experienced a dramatic increase in cargo activities over the past 10 years. In 2004, Richmond International Airport handled over 114 million pounds of cargo. Cargo services offered at Richmond International Airport include over 100,000 square feet (10,000 m2) of warehouse/office space and 1,000,000 square feet (100,000 m2) of apron space. The entire airport is designated a Foreign Trade Zone. Because of its central location on the Eastern Seaboard, cargo transit via RIC is on the rise. Goods shipped out of the metropolitan Richmond area can reach 50 % of the U.S. population within 24 hours.

History

The airport was dedicated as Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field in 1927 in honor of aviator Richard E. Byrd, brother of Governor of Virginia Harry F. Byrd. Charles Lindbergh attended the dedication ceremony. Although the facility was located in Henrico County, Richmond Mayor John Fulmer Bright was instrumental in the creation of Byrd Field, which was initially owned by the City of Richmond.

The current president and CEO of Richmond International is Jon Mathiasen. It is currently owned and operated by the Capital Region Airport Commission, a state-created governmental agency overseen by representatives of Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico Counties and the City of Richmond.

Airport statistics

In 2007, the airport served 3,634,544 passengers, which is a record number of passengers for the airport, representing a 10.3% increase over 2006 figures,[3] and lags about 80,000 passengers behind the next-busiest airport in the state, Norfolk International. This makes RIC the fourth-busiest airport in Virginia (after Washington Dulles, Washington Reagan National, and Norfolk, respectively).

In May 2011, RIC had a passenger enplanement of 287,643. Delta is the largest carrier, serving 30.3% of the passengers, while US Airways is close behind at 22.4%. American serves 12.1%, while United and AirTran serve 9.8% each. Continental serves 7.2%, with JetBlue close behind at 6.6%. Air Canada serves .4% of the RIC passengers.[4]

In 2008 Richmond International's total enplaned passengers totaled 1,733,668, a decrease from 2007. In 2009 RIC's total enplanements was 1,649,248.[5]

Richmond International has a total of 73 based aircraft. 21 of these are single-engine, another 21 are multi-engine and 31 are jets.[6]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations Concourse
Air Canada Express operated by Jazz Air Toronto-Pearson A
Air Canada Express operated by Air Georgian Toronto-Pearson A
AirTran Airways Atlanta, Orlando A
American Airlines Dallas/Fort Worth A
American Eagle Chicago-O'Hare, Miami A
Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul B
Delta Connection operated by Chautauqua Airlines Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-JFK B
Delta Connection operated by Comair Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Detroit, New York-JFK B
Delta Connection operated by Compass Airlines Minneapolis/St. Paul B
Delta Connection operated by Mesaba Airlines New York-JFK B
Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines Atlanta, Detroit, New York-JFK B
JetBlue Airways Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando B
United Airlines Chicago-O'Hare B
United Express operated by Expressjet Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark, Washington-Dulles B
United Express operated by GoJet Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, Washington-Dulles B
United Express operated by Trans States Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, Washington-Dulles B
US Airways Charlotte A
US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin Boston, New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia A
US Airways Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines New York-LaGuardia A
US Airways Express operated by Piedmont Airlines Philadelphia A
US Airways Express operated by PSA Airlines Charlotte, Philadelphia A
US Airways Express operated by Republic Airlines Charlotte, New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia A
Vision Airlines Freeport

Accidents and incidents

Virginia Air National Guard

Up until October 2007, the 192d Fighter Wing (192 FW), an Air Combat Command (ACC)-gained unit of the Virginia Air National Guard, maintaned an Air National Guard Station and operated F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from the airport. In late 2007, pursuant to BRAC 2005 action, the 192 FW relinquished its F-16C and F-16D aircraft, relocated to Langley AFB (now Joint Base Langley-Eustis), and integrated with the Regular Air Force as an associate unit to the 1st Fighter Wing (1 FW) flying the F-22 Raptor. The former Richmond International Airport Air National Guard Station property was transferred to the Department of the Army in support of Army Reserve and Virginia Army National Guard activities.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ FAA Airport Master Record for RIC (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2011-06-30
  2. ^ 2010 North American final rankings
  3. ^ Dunham, Linda (2008-01-30). "Richmond airport's growth flying high". Richmond Times-Dispatch. http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/business.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-01-30-0045.html. 
  4. ^ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www2.timesdispatch.com/business/2011/jun/29/richmond-airport-passenger-traffic-down-in-may-ar-1138190/. 
  5. ^ faa,[1], Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) and All-Cargo Data for U.S. Airports.
  6. ^ airportiq5010
  7. ^ "Aircraft accident Boeing 737-2H5 N221US Richmond, VA". Aviation Safety Network. 1996-06-09. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19960609-2. 
  8. ^ http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=14427877
  9. ^ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/richmond-iap.htm

External links