Syracuse Hancock International Airport
| Syracuse Hancock International Airport | |||
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IATA: SYR – ICAO: KSYR
 SYR
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | City of Syracuse Department of Aviation | ||
| Serves | Syracuse, New York | ||
| Location | DeWitt / Salina / Cicero, Onondaga County, New York | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 421 ft / 128 m | ||
| Coordinates | 43°06′40″N 076°06′23″W / 43.11111°N 76.10639°WCoordinates: 43°06′40″N 076°06′23″W / 43.11111°N 76.10639°W | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 10/28 | 9,003 | 2,744 | Asphalt |
| 15/33 | 7,500 | 2,286 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (Ending 2007, 2010) | |||
| Operations (2007) | 107,706 | ||
| Based aircraft (2007) | 98 | ||
| Passengers (2010) | 2,064,399 | ||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration,[1] ACI[2] | |||
- For the United States Air Force use of this facility, see Hancock Field Air National Guard Base
Syracuse Hancock International Airport (IATA: SYR, ICAO: KSYR) is a joint civil-military public airport located 4 NM (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) northeast[1] of Syracuse, in Onondaga County, New York, off of Interstate 81 near Mattydale, New York. The main terminal complex is located at the eastern end of Colonel Eileen Collins Boulevard.
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History [edit]
In 1927 Syracuse mayor Charles Hanna felt that his city needed an airport. A location at Amboy in the town of Camillus, New York was purchased for $50,000, and by 1928, the "Syracuse City Airport at Amboy" was handling airmail. At the end of World War II the United States Army Air Corps leased their bomber base near Mattydale, New York to the city. On September 17, 1949, the Clarence E. Hancock Airport opened to the public using a renovated machine shop as a terminal, and replaced the airport at Amboy. The airport at that time was equipped with three 5,500-foot (1,700 m) long and 300-foot (91 m) wide concrete runways. American, Buffalo, Colonial and Robinson Airlines were the first airlines to operate at the airport, and American Airlines still does to this day.
In 2004, Syracuse Mayor Matthew Driscoll created a television and internet campaign, titled Fly Syracuse,[3] in an attempt to lower fares and increase passenger traffic at the airport. The airport has since experienced a period of growth thanks to the efforts of local business contributions toward the campaign.
Expansion [edit]
C&S is providing professional design and construction inspection/observation services for the construction of the Syracuse Hancock International Airport terminal security and access improvement project, which is a 147,000-square-foot (13,700 m2) renovation design project with an estimated cost of $63 million. The most critical components of the project include: post check-in TSA baggage handling, improved passenger screening, and sustainability. This project is 100 percent funded by PFC's (Passenger Facility Charges) meaning that no tax dollars will be used to construct this project. For more information refer to www.syrairport.org.[4] This project connects Terminal A to Terminal B. This allows all passengers to be screened at a centralized location, and then proceed to their gate from the center. There will also be new concessions and restaurants housed in the new area, as well as in the existing areas of Terminals A and B. On May 15, 2013, the airport opened the new security area to passengers. As expected with anything new, there were some minor glitches; 40 passengers missed flights. They were reimbursed by the airport with $150 vouchers. On day 2, the airport processed 881 passengers through the new security checkpoint, and had zero problems. Before the new gate that houses the security checkpoint was a observetory for children to watch planes.[5]
Operations [edit]
The Syracuse region receives an average 124 inches (289.56 cm) of snow annually, most of any major city in the United States. On average, the airport is closed less than 24 hours annually due to snowfall. The airport has received the Balchen/Post Award for Excellence in the Performance of Snow and Ice Control a total of eight times, most recently in 2012-2013.[6] Runway 10/28 has a Category II Instrument Landing System (ILS).
Airlines and destinations [edit]
Cargo operations [edit]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| FedEx Express | Memphis, Newark, Burlington (VT) |
| UPS | Albany, Buffalo, Louisville, Manchester (NH), Philadelphia, Roanoke |
Flight schools [edit]
Syracuse Hancock International is home to Syracuse Flight School which replaced what was Waypoint Flight School.
Runways [edit]
In the 1950s, the primary east-west instrument runway (10-28) was extended from its original 5500 foot length by the mid-1950s to 6863 feet and a few years later to 8000 feet. In 1958, the instrument landing system to runway 28 was augmented with a 3000 foot high-intensity approach lighting system. With the use of the Century series fighter aircraft used by the Air Force, around 1960 the main east-west runway was extended again, this time to 9005 feet. The runway was strengthened in the early 1960s for the new heavier Boeing 707 aircraft. In the 1960s, runway centerline lighting was added to the main runway along with touchdown zone lighting on the runway 28 end.
Around the time of building the new terminal building, runway 6-24 was shortened to 3261 feet to allow construction of the entrance road to the new terminal facilities and continued to be used as a general aviation runway into the 1970s, however it was abandoned after that. Runway 14-32 was lengthened in the 1960s by about 500 feet to 6000 feet. Another extension brought it to 6480 feet and sometime around 1980 was lengthened to its present length of 7500 feet. The crosswind runway was also renumbered from 14-32 to 15-33. An instrument landing system was added to runway 10 with medium intensity approach lighting with runway alignment indicator lights. Runway 15 was equipped with a medium intensity approach lighting system.[7]
See also [edit]
- Syracuse Suburban Airport
- Syracuse Municipal Airport
- New York World War II Army Airfields
- Eastern Air Defense Force (Air Defense Command)
- 32nd Air Division (United States)
References [edit]
- ^ a b FAA Airport Master Record for SYR (Form 5010 PDF)
- ^ 2010 North American final rankings
- ^ "FlySyracuse.com". Retrieved January 9, 2012.
- ^ http://www.syrairport.org/about/projects/termsec.cfm
- ^ http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/05/day_two_no_delays_at_syracuse.html
- ^ http://www.necaaae.org/cfiles/ne_balchen_12_13.php
- ^ http://www.airnav.com/airport/KSYR
External links [edit]
- Syracuse Hancock International Airport (official site)
- Fly Syracuse
- LiveATC's Streaming Audio of SYR ATC
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective May 2, 2013
- Historical Photos of the original airport at Amboy, as well as its current state
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KSYR
- ASN accident history for SYR
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KSYR
- FAA current SYR delay information
