Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport

Coordinates: 41°31′03″N 81°41′00″W / 41.51750°N 81.68333°W / 41.51750; -81.68333

Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport control tower

IATA: BKL – ICAO: KBKL – FAA LID: BKL

Summary

Airport type

Public

Owner

City of Cleveland

Operator

Department of Port Control

Serves

Cleveland, Ohio

Elevation AMSL

583 ft / 178 m

Website

http://www.burkeairport.com/

Runways

Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
6L/24R	6,198	1,889	Asphalt
6R/24L	5,197	1,584	Asphalt

Statistics (2011)

Aircraft operations	64,358
Based aircraft	31

Sources: FAA^[1] & airport website^[2]

Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport (IATA: BKL, ICAO: KBKL, FAA LID: BKL) is a public airport situated on the shore of Lake Erie, in the northeast part of downtown Cleveland, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States.^[1] It classified as a general aviation airport and is an FAA designated reliever to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE), which is Greater Cleveland's primary airport. In 2008, based on FAA data, Burke Lakefront was the fourth busiest airport in the state of Ohio (after, in order, Cleveland Hopkins, Port Columbus International and Akron-Canton, up from 7th in 2007). It is named after former Cleveland mayor and U.S. senator Thomas A. Burke.

The airport is owned and operated by the city of Cleveland, which also operates Hopkins. It serves a growing number of corporate jets and air taxi services. Burke handled 20,618 air taxi operations in 2005, and 23,370 in 2006. BKL handled 18,595 air taxi operations in the first ten months of 2007. Burke Lakefront handles approximately 87,000 operations per year (average of 2000 to 2006). (60,013 for the first ten months of 2007). The airport is frequently used by NFL, MLB and NBA team charter flights due to its proximity to FirstEnergy Stadium (Cleveland Browns), Progressive Field (Cleveland Indians) and Quicken Loans Arena (Cleveland Cavaliers).

Recent commercial air service

Since late 2006, there has been no commercial air service at the airport. The airline Destination One, briefly provided scheduled charter service between BKL and airports near the downtowns of Detroit and Cincinnati, and to Hilton Head, SC. However, this service was short-lived. Wright Airlines was based at BKL in the 1970s and 1980s, before declaring bankruptcy. In 1979, Midway Airlines operated service from BKL to MDW in Chicago, before moving their operations to Hopkins.

Current air cargo service

Air cargo

Airlines	Destinations
AirNet Express	Columbus, OH
Central Air Southwest	Dayton, Hamilton, Kalamazoo, Ypsilanti

Events

The airport was the site of the annual Grand Prix of Cleveland, last held in 2007, a Champ Car race which required the airport to be briefly shut down. Burke Lakefront Airport was the only airport in the country to host such a major car race which required careful maintenance of the runways in order to keep them safe for cars at high speeds.

Every Labor Day weekend, the airport hosts the annual Cleveland National Air Show attended by 60,000 to 100,000 visitors.^[3]

On the evening of Thursday, October 25, 2012 President Barack Obama held a rally on the tarmac in front of Air Force One for the 2012 Presidential election. He was greeted by a crowd of over 12,000 according to various Cleveland news outlets.^[4]^[5]

Facilities and aircraft

Facilities

Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport covers an area of 450 acres (180 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 6L/24R measuring 6,198 x 150 ft (1,889 x 46 m) and 6R/24L measuring 5,197 x 100 ft (1,584 x 30 m).^[1] The airfield is fully capable of handling large jets including, 737s, 757s, and A320s along with the smaller general aviation aircraft operations.

The airport has two fixed-base operators on the grounds.

In 2005, the airport had 96,658 aircraft operations, an average of 264 per day: 76% general aviation, 24% air taxi, 1% military and <1% scheduled commercial.^[6]

There are four flight schools located on the grounds of Burke Lakefront. These schools are, The Premier Flight Academy, T & G Flying Club, Inc., Top Gun Flight Training, and Precision Helicopters.

The International Women's Air & Space Museum is located throughout the terminal at BKL.^[7]

Facilities at KBKL

Inside the Control Tower at KBKL

Control Tower and Employee Parking at KBKL

Aircraft

As of 2007, there are 74 aircraft based at this airport. These aircraft include 38 single-engine aircraft, 13 multi-engine aircraft, 13 helicopters and 10 jets. In percent form 51.3% of the based aircraft are single-engine, 17.5% are multi-engine, 17.5% helicopter and 13.5% jet.^[1]

Incidents

September 8, 1981, the commander of the Thunderbirds, Lt. Col. David Smith, was taking off from Burke Lakefront Airport in his T-38 Talon when it ingested several seagulls, stalling the engines. Smith and his crew chief ejected but Smith was killed when his chute failed to open.^[8]
September 27, 1986 A runway was closed after debris from a mass balloon release by the charity United Way Services of Cleveland fell on the airport.^[9]
In early 2008, a small twin-engined aircraft crashed into Lake Erie shortly after takeoff. The 68-year-old pilot was rumored to have had a heart attack as he made a turn to Niagara Falls.^[10]
In September 2009, a TS-11 Iskra practicing for the air show made a gear up landing. The pilot was unharmed and the aircraft received only light damage to the cowling and left wing. The plane remains on the ground as of July 2014^[11]