Louisville International Airport

Louisville International Airport (Standiford Field)
IATA: SDF – ICAO: KSDF SDF Location of the Louisville International Airport
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Louisville Regional Airport Authority (LRAA)
Location		600 Terminal Drive Louisville, Kentucky
Hub for		UPS Airlines Vision Airlines
Elevation AMSL		501 ft / 152.7 m
Coordinates		38°10′28″N 85°44′10″W
Website		http://www.flylouisville.com/
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
17R/35L	11,890	3,624	Concrete
17L/35R	8,579	2,615	Concrete
11/29	7,250	2,210	Concrete
Statistics (2009, 2010)
Aircraft operations (2009)			170,096
Based aircraft (2009)			22
Passengers (2010)			3,349,162

Louisville International Airport (IATA: SDF, ICAO: KSDF) is a joint civil-military public airport centrally located in the city of Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA. The airport covers 1,200 acres (4.9 km²) and has three runways. Its IATA airport code SDF is based on the airport's former name, Standiford Field. The airport is the second busiest in Kentucky behind Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport which is in Boone County, Kentucky.

The airport is home to Worldport, the worldwide hub of UPS. The Kentucky Air National Guard's 123d Airlift Wing operates C-130 transport aircraft from the co-located Louisville Air National Guard Base.

History

Standiford Field was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1941 on a parcel of land south of Louisville that was found not to have flooded during the Ohio River flood of 1937. It was named for Dr. Elisha David Standiford, a local businessman and politician, who was active in transportation issues and owned part of the land. The field remained under Army control until 1947, when it was turned over to the Louisville Air Board for commercial operations.

Before Standiford Field became the main conduit for passenger air traffic in Louisville, Bowman Field was Louisville's main airport. For many years passenger traffic went through the now relatively small brick Lee Terminal at Standiford Field. Major construction in the 1980s resulted in the newer, more modern and much larger facilities that are used today. Most of the Lee Terminal was subsequently torn down.

Parallel runways, enabling a much higher volume of air traffic and facilitating expanded UPS operations, were also part of an airport expansion plan begun in the 1980s.

When Louisville International Airport was built by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, in 1941, it consisted of only one 4,000-foot (1,200 m) runway and was called Standiford Field. The airfield did not open to the public until World War II was over in 1947. When it opened, all the commercial service from Bowman Field was moved over to Standiford Field. American, Eastern, and TWA were the first airlines to run commercial service out of the airport, and had 1,300 passengers a week. In 1950, Lee Terminal opened and could handle 150,000 passengers annually and included 6 new gates, which increased terminal space to 114,420 square feet (10,630 m²). There was a rapid increase in boardings from 1965 to 1970, so in 1970 the terminal was again expanded. The main lobby was extended, and the USAir facilities concourse was completed. Also, the 33,000-square-foot (3,100 m²) Delta Airlines concourse was built, further increasing capacity. The 1980s brought on plans for a whole new airport, since the airport was no longer able to handle all the passengers. These plans were put together in the Louisville Airport Improvement plan (LAIP). Construction and completion for a new landside terminal began, costing $35 million, and the airport was able to handle nearly 2 million passengers in 1985. The 1990s were when most of the improvement plans began construction, and the airport was totally renewed. Southwest was a major player in why the renovations were needed so badly. Throughout the 90’s Southwest Airlines boosted passenger boardings by 97.3 percent. In 1995 the airport's name was changed from Standiford Field to Louisville International Airport. Along with a new name, many other things changed at Louisville International at that time, including the addition of two new parallel runways. Runway 17L/35R has a length of 8,580 feet (2,620 m) and a width of 150 feet (46 m), and runway 17R/35R has a length of 11,890 feet (3,620 m) and a width of 150 feet (46 m). The Kentucky Air National Guard moved its base to SDF, bringing with it 8 military aircraft. A new UPS air mail facility, new corporate hangars, a 4 level parking garage and a new control tower were also added. A new FBO was also added, run by Atlantic Aviation, and managed by Michael Perry. In 2005, a $26 million terminal renovation was also completed, transforming the Louisville airport into what it is today. Yearly passenger enplanements are approximately 1.7 million, and are forecasted to increase within the next 5 years. Louisville International is home to 11 airlines including, American, Southwest, Frontier, Delta, United, US Airways, Vision Airlines, FedEx, UPS, and USPS.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations	Concourse
American Airlines	Dallas/Fort Worth	A
AmericanConnection operated by Chautauqua Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare	A
American Eagle	Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami	A
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta	A
Delta Connection operated by Chautauqua Airlines	Detroit, Memphis, New York-JFK [begins July 11, 2012], New York-LaGuardia [begins March 25, 2012]	A
Delta Connection operated by Comair	Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul	A
Delta Connection operated by Compass Airlines	Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul	A
Delta Connection operated by Expressjet Airlines	Atlanta	A
Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines	Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul	A
Delta Connection operated by Skywest Airlines	Minneapolis/St. Paul	A
Frontier Airlines	Denver	A
Southwest Airlines	Atlanta [begins August 12, 2012], Baltimore, Chicago-Midway, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix, St. Louis, Tampa	B
United Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines	Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental	A
United Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark, Washington-Dulles	A
United Express operated by Shuttle America	Chicago-O'Hare, Denver	A
United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Denver	A
US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin	New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Washington-National	B
US Airways Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines	New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Washington-National	B
US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines	Charlotte	B
US Airways Express operated by PSA Airlines	Charlotte, Washington-National	B
US Airways Express operated by Republic Airlines	Washington-National	B
Vision Airlines	Atlanta, Fort Walton Beach [ends February 29, 2012], Grand Bahama/Freeport	B

Top destinations

Busiest Domestic Routes from SDF (May 2010 - April 2011)

Rank	City	Passengers	Carriers
1	Atlanta, GA	204,000	Delta, Vision
2	Chicago, IL (ORD)	139,000	American, United
3	Chicago, IL (MDW)	138,000	Southwest
4	Charlotte, NC	130,000	US Airways
5	Baltimore, MD	109,000	Southwest
6	Dallas/Fort Worth, TX	107,000	American
7	Detroit, MI	69,000	Delta
8	Houston, TX	64,000	Continental
9	Denver, CO	62,000	Frontier, United
10	St. Louis, MO	53,000	Southwest

Cargo airlines

• UPS Airlines
• FedEx Express
• DHL
• Ameriflight
• Air Cargo Carriers

Scheduled cargo airlines and destinations

UPS Airlines is currently the airport's largest operator.

Airlines	Destinations
UPS Airlines	Albany NY, Albuquerque NM, Anchorage AK, Atlanta GA, Austin TX, Baltimore MD, Billings MT, Birmingham AL, Boston MA, Buffalo NY, Burbank CA, Casablanca Morocco, Cedar Rapids IA, Charlotte NC, Chicago IL, Cleveland OH, Cologne/Bonn Germany, Columbia SC, Columbus OH, Dallas TX, Denver CO, Des Moines IA, Detroit MI, Fort Lauderdale FL, Fort Myers FL, Fort Wayne IN, Greensboro/High Point NC, Greenville SC, Hamilton ON Canada, Harrisburg PA, Hartford CT, Honolulu HI, Houston TX, Jackson MS, Jacksonville FL, Kansas City MO, Knoxville TN, Lafayette LA, Lansing MI, Las Vegas NV, Little Rock AR, Long Beach CA, Los Angeles CA, Manchester NH, Memphis TN, Mexico City Mexico, Miami FL, Milwaukee WI, Minneapolis MN, Montreal (Mirabel) QC Canada, Newark NJ, Newburgh NY, New Orleans LA, New York (JFK) NY, Oakland CA, Oklahoma City OK, Omaha NE, Ontario CA, Orlando FL, Peoria IL, Philadelphia PA, Phoenix AZ, Pittsburgh PA, Portland OR, Raleigh/Durham NC, Richmond VA, Sacramento (Mather) CA, Saint Louis MO, Saint Petersburg FL, Salt Lake City UT, San Antonio TX, San Diego CA, San Jose CA, San Juan PR, Seattle (Boeing Field) WA, Sioux Falls SD, Springfield MO, Syracuse NY, Toronto ON Canada, Tulsa OK, Washington DC (Dulles) VA, West Palm Beach FL[citation needed]
Air Cargo Carriers	Beckley, Charleston, Decatur, Warsaw
FedEx Express	Memphis
Ameriflight	Parkersburg, Moline, Hunstville, Smyrna, Knoxville

Operations

For more details on this topic, see Worldport (UPS air hub).

Worldport is the worldwide air hub for UPS (United Parcel Service) located at the Louisville International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky. Although UPS has had a hub at Louisville since 1980, the term was not used officially by the company until 2002, after a $1 billion, five-year expansion.[1] Previously, the project was named "Hub 2000." The facility is currently the size of 80 football fields and capable of handling 84 packages a second, or 304,000 per hour. With over 20,000 employees, UPS is one of the largest employers in Louisville and Kentucky. The facility mainly handles express and international packages and letters. Worldport serves all^{[citation needed]} major domestic and international hubs. Over 3.5 million passengers and more than 10 billion pounds of cargo pass through Louisville International Airport each year, making it the 67th busiest domestic airport for passengers and the third busiest for cargo (due to the its status as the primary hub for UPS). The airport, currently in the midst of major terminal renovations, has three operational runways. The two parallel main runways run north/south and allow for simultaneous takeoffs and landings. The east/west runway is shorter and generally only used in adverse weather conditions.

Louisville International Airport is home to the Chautauqua Airlines maintenance complex, capable of holding nine planes, as well as the Compass Airlines main maintenance complex.

In addition to commercial air traffic there is a significant amount of general aviation activity at Louisville International Airport, for business travel and other purposes.

Incidents

• December 21, 1978 TWA Flight 541 from Louisville to Kansas City International Airport was hijacked by 17-year-old Robin Oswald to Williamson County Regional Airport in Illinois in attempt to secure the release of Garrett Brock Trapnell who was serving time at United States Penitentiary, Marion for the January 28, 1972, hijacking of TWA Flight 2 from Los Angeles to New York. Oswald's mother Barbara Oswald was killed May 24, 1978, after hijacking a helicopter in an attempt to rescue him (and Martin J. McNally who was serving time for the June 23, 1972 hijacking of a St. Louis-Tulsa American Airlines flight). Robin surrendered after 10 hours of at the Williamson airport.

See also

• Worldport, UPS's global air-freight hub
• Kentucky World War II Army Airfields
• Bowman Field
• UPS Airlines

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Airport Master Record (FAA Form 5010), also available as a printable form (PDF)
• Louisville International Airport (official web site)

External links

• Louisville International Airport, official site
• Kentucky Air National Guard, official web site
• Standiford Field ANG / Louisville International Airport at GlobalSecurity.org
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective 9 Feb 2012
• FAA Terminal Procedures for SDF, effective 9 Feb 2012
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KSDF
  • ASN accident history for SDF
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KSDF
  • FAA current SDF delay information