Relief airport
A relief airport is an airport that is built or designated to provide relief or additional capacity to an area when the primary commercial airport(s) reach capacity. In some cases a relief airport is an existing one that is designated to handle a specific class of aircraft such as general aviation.
The advantages of an additional airport are clear. Less obvious are the capacity gains from moving general aviation from a commercial airport to a different facility. By removing aircraft with lower capacities and slower speeds, an airport is able to operate more flights with larger aircraft and handle more passengers increasing efficiency with minimal additional cost in facilities at the older and generally larger facility.
This also spreads out the aircraft over a wider area generally improving air traffic in the entire community.
Examples
Buffalo (New York)
- Niagara Falls International Airport
- Buffalo-Lancaster Regional Airport (General aviation only)
Charlotte Metropolitan Area
Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
- McKinney National Airport (General aviation, relief airport for Dallas Love Field)
Hong Kong
- Shek Kong Airfield (General aviation only, shared with PLA Air Force)
Houston Metropolitan Area
Indianapolis Metropolitan Area
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
Louisville Metropolitan Area
Minneapolis-St.Paul (Twin Cities) Metropolitan Area
- Saint Paul Downtown Airport
New Orleans Metropolitan Area
New York Metropolitan Area
- Essex County Airport
- Morristown Airport
- Republic Airport
- Teterboro Airport
Philadelphia Metropolitan Area
Ottawa-Hull / National Capital Region
Tulsa Metropolitan Area
See also
- Executive airport, a marketing term employed to promote general aviation to corporate jet travellers
- FAA airport categories
- List of cities with more than one airport
Sources
- The Impact of a General Aviation Airport on Surrounding Land Use Patterns: Richard Lloyd Jones Jr. Airport Brockway, David Arthur. ProQuest. 2007.