Eppley Airfield

Eppley Airfield
Summary
Owner/Operator Omaha Airport Authority
Serves Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa
Location Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Elevation AMSL 984 ft / 300 m
Coordinates 41°18′04″N 95°53′43″W / 41.3012°N 95.8954°W / 41.3012; -95.8954
Website www.flyoma.com
Map


OMA
OMA
Location of airport in Nebraska / United States
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
14R/32L 9,502 2,896 Asphalt/Concrete
14L/32R 8,500 2,591 Concrete
18/36 8,154 2,485 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2009, 2011, 2013, 2016)
Passengers (2016) 4.35 million
Aircraft operations (2009) 111,155
Cargo in pounds (2013) 93,000,000
Mail in pounds (2013) 51,000,000
Sources: FAA[1] and airport web site[2]

Eppley Airfield (IATA: OMA, ICAO: KOMA, FAA LID: OMA) is an international medium hub airport three miles northeast of downtown Omaha, Nebraska, in Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. It is the largest airport in Nebraska, serving ten times more passengers than all other Nebraska airports combined.

The airport occupies 2,650 acres (1,070 ha) and handles about 120 airline flights per day to and from 29 daily and 3 seasonal non-stop destinations.[3] Eppley served 4.35 million passengers in 2016 (including both enplaned and deplaned passengers).

History

Eppley Airfield began as an extension of Levi Carter Park near East Omaha in 1925. That year, the City of Omaha acquired 200 acres of cleared land on the east side of Carter Lake. Almost immediately, planes started landing and taking off there. A lawsuit was launched against the City in 1927 when a group wanted to build a hangar there. The lawsuit failed and the land was called both the Omaha Municipal Airport and the American Legion Airport.[4]

The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 42 scheduled airline departures per day, with 23 by United Airlines and 19 by Braniff Airlines. The airport is named for Eugene C. Eppley, the Eppley Hotels magnate of Omaha, from whose estate $1.0 million was used to convert the then Omaha Municipal Airport into a jetport in 1959-60.[5] This was matched by the federal government and improvements were made to handle jets at the airport,[6] and the first jets landed were United Airlines B720s in August 1960.

The terminal building, opened in 1961, was designed by James C. Buckley, Inc.[7] Concourse B opened in 1970,[8] and it was remodeled when Concourse A opened in 1986.[9]

Hubs and operations

Midwest Airlines, then known as Midwest Express, operated a hub at Eppley Airfield from 1995 to 2002 with flights to Milwaukee, Newark, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Diego International Airport, and Washington–Reagan; the airport remained a focus city with nonstops to Milwaukee and Washington-Reagan until the airline merged with Frontier Airlines in 2010.[10] As of April 2017, Omaha has no international passenger flights. The airport handled more than 4.3 million passengers in 2016. Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines are the first-, second-, and third-largest carriers and serve approximately 34 percent, 21 percent, and 19 percent, respectively, of passengers.[2]

Although there are no international passenger flights from Eppley Airfield, there is one international cargo flight, as UPS operates a daily flight to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Several films have used Eppley for a few scenes including the 2002 feature film About Schmidt which included scenes filmed inside and outside the terminal building, and the 2009 feature film Up in the Air which made use of the south end of the terminal building during filming.

Expansion

Current

Parking garage

In April 2017, the Omaha Airport Authority began construction on an approximately $71 million, six-story parking garage and new suspended-above-ground rental car terminal building. The new garage is to be built north of the existing six-story garage with a large glass rental car facility between the new garage and existing terminal connected to both via covered skywalks. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2018. The first phase will provide 2,200 parking stalls, with 850 stalls for rental cars and 1,350 public stalls. There are some minor parking changes during construction and significant rental car parking changes. While the existing rental car counters in the terminal are fully operational, the temporary rental car facility is located in the airport's "canopy lot." Shuttle service to the temporary rental car facility is provided by the Omaha Airport Authority.. Access to the shuttle is located at a marked area in the temporary rental car facility and outside the northernmost door of the main terminal (near the Southwest Airlines ticket counter). [11]

Airport

Construction and upgrades are planned for Eppley Airfield's terminal and tarmac. An expansion to the runway 36/18 will be added in order to have larger aircraft landing, as well as taxiway A being enlarged to handle such aircraft. Next, Concourses A and B will be joined together by a long corridor, and expanded in the northern direction, adding 8 more jetways. This expansion will also add 6-8 more security positions, instead of the current two. After construction, there will be a total of 28 gates, with some able to handle larger aircraft. On either side of the "megaterminal" the ramp will be extended for overnight aircraft parking.

In January 2016, Eppley Airfield completed the expansion of its on-site United States Customs and Border Protection facility (CBP) to provide greater customs and inspection services for international passengers. While Eppley Airfield is classified as a "Customs Landing Rights Airport" for international flights (officially an "international airport") by United States Customs and Border Protection, there is no regularly scheduled international passenger service; however, the airport does handle international charter and private flights.

Location

The airport is northeast of downtown Omaha in east Omaha. Although the airport is in Nebraska on the west side of the Missouri River, it is surrounded on the east, west and south by the State of Iowa: the Missouri River formerly formed an oxbow west of the land that became Eppley Airfield. The river cut off the oxbow during an 1877 flood, leaving behind Carter Lake on a portion of its former course; the Supreme Court ruled in 1893 that though the land cut off by the river's changed route now lay west of the Missouri, it remained part of Iowa. This land eventually became the city of Carter Lake, Iowa.[12]

Terminals

Central Terminal

The Central Terminal contains the ground transportation center and rental car counters.

South Terminal

The South Terminal and Concourse A includes gates A1-A10, baggage claims 1-3, and services Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Frontier Airlines.

North Terminal

The North Terminal and Concourse B includes gates B11-B20, baggage claims 4-6, and services Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinationsRefs
Alaska Airlines Seattle/Tacoma [13]
Alaska Airlines
operated by SkyWest Airlines 		Portland (OR), San Diego (begins August 28, 2017)[14] [13]
Allegiant Air Las Vegas (begins November 17, 2017), Orlando/Sanford, St. Petersburg/Clearwater
Seasonal: Oakland, Phoenix–Mesa (begins October 4, 2017) 		[13][15]
American Airlines Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix–Sky Harbor [16]
American Eagle Charlotte, Chicago–O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami[17] [16]
Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Seasonal: Detroit, Salt Lake City 		[18]
Delta Connection Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York–LaGuardia, Salt Lake City, Washington–National [18]
Frontier Airlines Denver
Seasonal: Orlando 		[19]
Southwest Airlines Chicago–Midway, Dallas–Love, Denver, Houston–Hobby, Las Vegas, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, St. Louis, Washington–National
Seasonal: Los Angeles, Orlando, Tampa (begins March 10, 2018)[20] 		[21]
United Airlines Chicago–O'Hare, Denver
Seasonal: Houston–Intercontinental 		[22]
United Express Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Houston–Intercontinental, Newark, San Francisco [22]

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Ameriflight Beatrice, Grand Island, Kearney, Norfolk
AirNet Express Des Moines
DHL Aviation
operated by Suburban Air Freight 		Cincinnati
FedEx Express
operated by Baron Aviation Services 		Grand Island, Kearney, North Platte
FedEx Express Indianapolis, Memphis
UPS Airlines Billings, Louisville, Reno/Tahoe, Winnipeg

Statistics

Top destinations

Busiest domestic routes from OMA (May 2016 - April 2017)[23]
Rank City Passengers Carriers
1 Denver, Colorado 301,000 Frontier, Southwest, United
2 Chicago–O'Hare, Illinois 226,000 American, United
3 Atlanta, Georgia 199,000 Delta
4 Chicago–Midway, Illinois 180,000 Southwest
5 Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Arizona 160,000 American, Southwest
6 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 151,000 American
7 Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota 140,000 Delta
8 Las Vegas, Nevada 110,000 Southwest
9 St. Louis, Missouri 105,000 Southwest
10 Houston–Intercontinental, Texas 68,000 United

Annual traffic

Annual passenger traffic (enplaned + deplaned) at OMA, 2002 through 2016[24]
Year Passengers Year Passengers
20023,608,23120104,287,428
20033,667,19020114,212,399
20043,868,21720124,127,344
20054,193,04620134,042,333
20064,229,85620144,119,730
20074,421,27420154,169,467
20084,370,13720164,348,106
20094,217,718

Ground transportation

Metro Transit Line 16[25] provides limited weekday-only rush hour service southbound toward downtown and northbound toward the North Omaha Transit Center. Passenger access is located directly outside the central terminal.

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

  1. ↑ FAA Airport Master Record for OMA (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-10-25
  2. 1 2 Eppley Airfield, official web site
  3. ↑ "Non-Stop Destinations". www.flyoma.com. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
  4. ↑ Leslie R Valentine, “The Development of the Omaha Municipal Airfield, 1924-1930,” Nebraska History 61 (1980): 400-420.
  5. ↑ Eppley Grant of $1 Million Gives Omaha Jet Field - Lincoln Evening Journal, 1959-12-31
  6. ↑ "Municipal airport new name 'Eppley Airfield'," Omaha World-Herald, January 13, 1960
  7. ↑ American Aviation. 24. 1960.
  8. ↑ Mezzy, Dick (July 5, 1970). "Eppley Elevated Terminal Ready". Lincoln Star. p. 16. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Airport Authority of the City of Omaha, Airport Facilities Revenue Bonds" (PDF). www.fpr.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Frontier Airlines and Midwest to fly under one name - Apr. 13, 2010".
  11. ↑ Omaha World Herald. "Easing the Parking Crunch: 6-story, 2,200-stall Garage Coming to Eppley Airfield in 2017." Omaha.com. Omaha World Herald, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. <http://www.omaha.com/money/easing-the-parking-crunch--story--stall-garage-coming/article_790a6390-b6d2-11e4-9734-039b1a169392.html>.
  12. ↑ Nebraska v. Iowa, 406 U.S. 117 (1972).
  13. 1 2 3 "Flight Timetable". Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  14. ↑ http://journalstar.com/business/local/alaska-airlines-adds-omaha-flight-to-san-diego/article_de880130-870b-5059-8f81-79f4755952ca.html
  15. ↑ "Allegiant Airlines to begin offering nonstop flights from Eppley to Phoenix and Las Vegas". Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  16. 1 2 "Flight schedules and notifications". Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  17. ↑ http://www.omaha.com/money/american-airlines-to-add-nonstop-flights-from-omaha-to-miami/article_add254b1-85ff-5850-8670-a27e73279594.html
  18. 1 2 "FLIGHT SCHEDULES". Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  19. ↑ "Frontier". Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  20. ↑ http://www.omaha.com/money/southwest-airlines-plans-seasonal-nonstop-flight-between-omaha-and-tampa/article_d569ba1e-72fa-11e7-b55c-f376c8ba9010.html
  21. ↑ "Check Flight Schedules". Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  22. 1 2 "Timetable". Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  23. ↑ "RITA - BTS - Transtats".
  24. ↑ "Omaha Airport Authority -". Omaha Airport Authority.
  25. ↑ http://www.ometro.com/bus-system/bus-routes/east-omaha-north-16th-weekdays-only
  26. ↑ "Braniff Airliner Hits Nebraska Bean Field". The Spokesman-Review. August 8, 1966. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
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