Lewiston–Nez Perce County Airport

Lewiston–Nez Perce County Airport

Terminal in March 2006
IATA: LWS – ICAO: KLWS – FAA LID: LWS
– WMO: 72783
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of Lewiston &
Nez Perce County
Serves Lewiston, Idaho
Clarkston, Washington
Elevation AMSL 1,442 ft / 440 m
Coordinates 46°22′28″N 117°00′55″W / 46.37444°N 117.01528°WCoordinates: 46°22′28″N 117°00′55″W / 46.37444°N 117.01528°W
Map
LWS

Location of airport in Idaho

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
8/26 6,511 1,985 Asphalt
12/30 5,002 1,525 Asphalt
Statistics (2012)
Aircraft operations 35,425
Based aircraft 145

Lewiston–Nez Perce County Airport (IATA: LWS[2], ICAO: KLWS, FAA LID: LWS) is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) south of the central business district of Lewiston, a city in Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States. Owned by the city and county,[1] it is situated in an elevated area in the southern part of the city.

This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport.[3] As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 64,379 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[4] 62,210 enplanements in 2009, and 61,737 in 2010.[5]

The 2013 Federal sequester will result in the closure of the airport's contract control tower and will require pilots to rely on air traffic controllers from other area airports.[6][7]

History

The airport began as a Chamber of Commerce project in 1931,[8] and the original runway was paved in 1942.[9] Jet service arrived in October 1969 after the completion of the 6,500-foot (1,980 m) runway 8/26.[10][11][12][13]

Lewiston was served by West Coast Airlines Fairchild F-27s during the 1960s. West Coast merged with Bonanza Air Lines and Pacific Air Lines to form Air West in 1968, (renamed "Hughes Air West" in 1970, "Hughes Airwest" in 1971) and based in San Francisco.

The early jet service was by Air West Douglas DC-9s and BAC One-Elevens of Cascade Airways, supplemented with turboprops of both airlines. Hughes was bought by Republic Airlines of Minneapolis in October 1980, which cut back flights in Idaho and the western U.S.[14] Republic's final flight to Lewiston was in September 1982,[15] and ended its southern Idaho and eastern Washington service shortly after in April 1983.[16] Cascade, based in Spokane, ceased operations in 1986.[17][18]

The short-lived Gem State Airlines of Coeur d'Alene served Lewiston for 11 months, until November 1979.[19][20] Mountain West Airlines of Boise served Lewiston for less than three months before folding in early March 1981.[21][22][23][24] Big Sky Airlines of Billings briefly served Lewiston in 1979.[25]

The municipal golf course adjacent to the west, Bryden Canyon, was designed and built in the early 1970s,[26][27] and opened in March 1975.[28]

Facilities and aircraft

Lewiston–Nez Perce County Airport covers an area of 865 acres (350 ha) at an elevation of 1,442 feet (440 m) above sea level. It has two runways with asphalt surfaces: 8/26 is 6,511 by 150 feet (1,985 m × 46 m) and 12/30 is 5,002 by 100 feet (1,525 m × 30 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending January 1, 2012, the airport had 35,425 aircraft operations, an average of 97 per day: 77% general aviation, 13% air taxi, 8% scheduled commercial, and 2% military. At that time there were 145 aircraft based at this airport: 81% single-engine, 10% helicopter, 8% multi-engine, and 1% jet.[1]

Airlines and destinations

Scheduled airline passenger service is available to the following non-stop destinations:

Airlines Destinations
Alaska Airlines operated by Horizon Air Boise, Seattle/Tacoma
Delta Connection Salt Lake City

Horizon Air began service to Lewiston and Pullman-Moscow in March 1983.[29][30][31] SkyWest Airlines initiated service to Lewiston in June 1996[32] as a Delta feeder, but only for only a year,[33] then returned as the Delta Connection in January 2005.[34] It currently flies Canadair CRJ regional jets from the airport while Horizon Air operates Bombardier Q400 propjets on behalf of Alaska Airlines.


Top destinations

Busiest routes from Lewiston (Feb 2014 - Jan 2015)[35]
Rank City Passengers Carriers
1 Salt Lake City, Utah 27,000 Delta
2 Seattle/Tacoma, Washington 20,000 Alaska
3 Boise, Idaho 12,000 Alaska

Cargo Carriers

Airlines Destinations
Ameriflight Seattle
FedEx Feeder Spokane

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 FAA Airport Master Record for LWS (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective November 15, 2012.
  2. ↑ "IATA Airport Code Search (LWS: Lewiston / Nez Perce County Rgnl)". International Air Transport Association. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  3. ↑ "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF, 2.03 MB). National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). CY 2008 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). CY 2010 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
  6. ↑ "FAA Contract Tower Closure List". American Association of Airport Executives. March 22, 2013.
  7. ↑ "FAA: 149 control towers to close at small airports". USA Today. March 22, 2013.
  8. ↑ Harrell, Sylvia (March 6, 1983). "Evolution of an airport". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 35G.
  9. ↑ "Lewiston airport nears completion". Spokane Daily Chronicle. July 1, 1942. p. 3.
  10. ↑ "Jet age reaches Lewiston". Spokane Daily Chronicle. United Press International. October 27, 1969. p. 5.
  11. ↑ Eline, Ed (October 27, 1969). "Lewiston dedicates runway, joins jet age". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 14.
  12. ↑ "Federal grant for new airport runway marks end of long effort". Lewiston Morning Tribune. January 17, 1969. p. 16.
  13. ↑ "Runway work start slated by March 1". Lewiston Morning Tribune. January 30, 1969. p. 12.
  14. ↑ "Republic to drop two Idaho flights". Tri-City Herald. August 11, 1982. p. A23.
  15. ↑ "Republic: airline packs up, moves out". Lewiston Morning Tribune. September 11, 1982. p. 2B.
  16. ↑ "Boise workers shocked over Republic's pullout". Spokane Daily Chronicle. February 3, 1983. p. 1.
  17. ↑ Bartel, Frank (March 7, 1986). "Cascade halts flights to 10 cities in region". Spokane Chronicle. p. 1.
  18. ↑ "Cascade bankruptcy trustee files suit against Horizon". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. September 20, 1986. p. 12A.
  19. ↑ Harrell, Sylvia (January 30, 1980). "Gem State Airlines? Oh, you mean Golden Gate". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1C.
  20. ↑ "Gem State: Idaho refugee buys California airline". Lewiston Morning Tribune. January 10, 1980. p. 9C.
  21. ↑ "Boise-based airline may add Lewiston stops". Lewiston Morning Tribune. October 31, 1980. p. 1B.
  22. ↑ "Lewiston Councils OKs airline's office lease". Spokane Daily Chronicle. November 26, 1980.
  23. ↑ "New airline offers low get-acquainted rates". Lewiston Morning Tribune. December 13, 1980. p. 1B.
  24. ↑ "Budget cuts force airline to reorganize". Spokane Daily Chronicle. March 10, 1981. p. 13.
  25. ↑ "Remember Air Pacific?". Lewiston Morning Tribune. March 6, 1983. p. 35G.
  26. ↑ "Golf architect retained to design mucicipal course at Lewiston airport". Lewiston Morning Tribune. February 3, 1971. p. 8.
  27. ↑ "City will lay temporary line to irrigate new golf course". Lewiston Morning Tribune. May 24, 1973. p. 11.
  28. ↑ Alford, A.L., Jr. (March 5, 1975). "City course opening completes golf boom". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. B1.
  29. ↑ "Horizon to add region stops". Spokesman-Review. February 5, 1983. p. 9.
  30. ↑ "Horizon plans three flights to Quad Cities". Lewiston Morning Tribune. February 5, 1983. p. 5B.
  31. ↑ "Horizon begins operations at Lewiston, Pullman". Lewiston Morning Tribune. March 16, 1983. p. 3B.
  32. ↑ "SkyWest says it's found friendly skies over L-C Valley". Lewiston Morning Tribune. August 31, 1996. p. 8A.
  33. ↑ "Corrections". Lewiston Morning Tribune. December 28, 1998. p. 5A.
  34. ↑ "Delta cuts fares, changes price structure". Lewiston Morning Tribune. January 5, 2005. p. 7A.
  35. ↑ http://www.transtats.bts.gov/airports.asp?pn=1&Airport=LWS&Airport_Name=Lewiston, ID: Lewiston Nez Perce County&carrier=FACTS

External links