| Tucson International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: TUS – ICAO: KTUS – FAA LID: TUS | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Tucson Airport Authority | ||
| Serves | Tucson, Arizona | ||
| Location | Tucson, Arizona | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 2,643 ft / 806 m | ||
| Website | |||
| Map | |||
| FAA airport diagram
TUS
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 3/21 | 7,000 | 2,134 | Asphalt |
| 11L/29R | 10,996 | 3,352 | Asphalt |
| 11R/29L | 8,408 | 2,563 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2007, 2010) | |||
| Aircraft operations (2007) | 251,099 | ||
| Passenger boardings (2007) | 2,223,008 | ||
| Passenger arrivals/departures (2010) | 3,740,675 | ||
| Source: FAA[1] and airport website[2] | |||
Tucson International Airport (IATA: TUS, ICAO: KTUS, FAA LID: TUS) is a joint civil-military public airport located six miles (10 km) south of the central business district of Tucson, in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and is the second largest and busiest airport in Arizona, after Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.
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Tucson International is owned and operated by the Tucson Airport Authority, which also operates Ryan Airfield.
Currently, Tucson International Airport does not serve as a hub or focus city for any major passenger carrier.
The airport recently completed a Concourse Renovation Project - the last phase of an extensive remodeling begun in 2000 that added 82,000 sq ft (7,600 m2) to ticketing and baggage claim. On March 19, 2008, the previous East and West concourses and gates were renumbered with the East Concourse becoming Concourse A: Gates A1 - A9, and the West Concourse becoming Concourse B: Gates B1 - B11. The international arrival area was relocated to the main terminal in Concourse A, whereas before it existed in a separate terminal.
Public transportation to and from the airport is provided by Sun Tran bus routes #6 and #11.
In 1919, Tucson opened the first municipally owned airport in the United States. Nine years later, in 1928, commercial air service began at Tucson International with Standard Airlines (later American Airlines) in 1928. Regular airmail service began two years later in 1930.
During World War II, the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Force Air Technical Service Command. A contract flying school was also operated by the USAAF West Coast Training Center from July 25, 1942 until September 1944.
In 1948, the Tucson Airport Authority was created as a non-profit corporation to operate the airport. The airport was then moved to its current location in South Tucson and operated on the west ramp out of three hangars vacated by World War II military manufacturing companies.
In 1963, a new terminal facility was completed, housing six airlines and an international inspection station, earning the title: Tucson International Airport.
Tucson International Airport covers an area of 8,244 acres (33 km2) and contains three runways:
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2010, the airport had 164,743 aircraft operations.
Runway 11L is used the most for commercial air traffic, as there are often prevailing winds, and it is preferred. In occasional trade winds, commercial traffic uses runway 29R, and even rarer, with strong winds from the south, runway 21. Runway 11R-29L is too narrow (only 75 ft (23 m). wide) for most commercial aircraft, but runway 3 can be used by commercial flights.
In 2010, the airport had 1,870,838 enplanements and 1,869,837 deplanements, an increase of 2.84% from calendar year 2009. In 2010, airline seat capacity was nearly even at 6,263 seats compared to 6,332 in 2009 a reflection of reductions by the airlines in 2008 in response to the spike in oil prices.
Tucson's top ranked carriers included Southwest Airlines, with a 33% market share; American Airlines, which accounted for 21.08% of the total traffic, and US Airways which had a 11.65% market share.
Tucson International Airport is split into two concourses, Concourse A which contains 9 gates: A1 - A9, and Concourse B which contains 11 gates: B1 - B11. As of July 2009, Tucson's eight carriers serve 15 destinations.
Note: All international arrivals and departures are handled in the Main Terminal.
U.S. Customs and Immigration have offices located in a separate building within walking distance of the Main Terminal (the International Terminal). TUS is a designated international airport and clears several thousand general aviation aircraft annually. There are currently no scheduled passenger flights that leave the United States. There is one daily international cargo flight, to Hermosillo, Mexico. Southwest Airlines provides connecting service to Mexico, via Los Angeles, on Volaris, the second largest airline in Mexico.
All ticketing occurs at the ticketing level and all baggage claim is located at the baggage level. The terminal's third level contains a full service restaurant as well as public meeting rooms available for rent.
| Airlines | Destinations | Concourse |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | Seattle/Tacoma | B |
| American Airlines | Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth | A |
| American Eagle | Los Angeles | A |
| Delta Air Lines | Atlanta Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul |
B |
| Delta Connection operated by SkyWest Airlines |
Salt Lake City | B |
| Frontier Airlines | Denver | A |
| Frontier Airlines operated by Republic Airlines | Denver Seasonal: Milwaukee |
A |
| Southwest Airlines | Albuquerque, Chicago-Midway, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego Seasonal: Baltimore [begins February 12, 2012][3] |
A |
| United Airlines | Seasonal: Denver, Houston-Intercontinental | B |
| United Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines | Houston-Intercontinental | B |
| United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines |
Denver, Houston-Intercontinental, Los Angeles, San Francisco | B |
| US Airways | Seasonal: Phoenix | B |
| US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines | Phoenix | B |
| US Airways Express operated by SkyWest Airlines | Phoenix | B |
| Rank | City | Passengers per 12 months | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas/Fort Worth, TX | 283,000 | American |
| 2 | Denver, CO | 226,000 | Frontier, Southwest, United |
| 3 | Phoenix, AZ | 210,000 | US Airways |
| 4 | Los Angeles, CA | 197,000 | Southwest, United, American Eagle |
| 5 | Las Vegas, NV | 163,000 | Southwest |
| 6 | Atlanta, GA | 106,000 | Delta |
| 7 | San Diego, CA | 96,000 | Southwest |
| 8 | Houston, TX | 91,000 | United |
| 9 | Chicago, IL (O'Hare) | 87,000 | American |
| 10 | Chicago, IL (Midway) | 66,000 | Southwest |
There are two air freight facilities located east of the Main Terminal, off Airport Drive. Air carriers providing air freight include:
Tucson International Airport also hosts Tucson Air National Guard Base, a 92-acre (370,000 m2) complex on the northwest corner of the airport that is home to the 162d Fighter Wing (162 FW), an Air Education and Training Command (AETC)-gained unit of the Arizona Air National Guard. The largest Air National Guard fighter unit in the United States, the 162 FW operates over 70 F-16C/D/E/F aircraft in three operational fighter squadrons. The wing provides training on the F-16 Fighting Falcon, augmenting the active Air Force's 56th Fighter Wing (56 FW) at Luke AFB, Arizona as a Formal Training Unit (FTU) for training Regular Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, Air National Guard and NATO/Allied/Coalition F-16 pilots.
The wing also hosts the Air National Guard / Air Force Reserve Command (ANG AFRC) Command Test Center as a tenant unit, which conducts operational testing on behalf of the Air Reserve Component. The 162 FW also hosts "Snowbird" operations during the winter months for Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, and Air National Guard F-16 and A-10 units from northern tier bases in the continental United States, as well as Canadian Forces and Royal Air Force flying units.[5][6][7]
During its history at TUS, the 162nd has operated the F-86 Sabre, F-100 Super Sabre, F-102 Delta Dagger, A-7 Corsair II and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.[5] Not counting students or transient flight crews, the installation employs over 1,700 personnel, over 1,100 of whom are full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) and Air Reserve Technician (ART) personnel, and the remainder traditional part-time Air National Guardsmen. Although an AETC organization, the 162nd also maintains an F-16 Alert Detachment at nearby Davis-Monthan AFB in support of Operation Noble Eagle.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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