Williams Gateway Airport and Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport: Difference between pages
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Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Williams Gateway Airport Authority | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Mesa, Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,382 ft / 421 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°18′28″N 111°39′20″W / 33.30778°N 111.65556°W | ||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www.phxmesagateway.org | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2005) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (IATA: AZA, ICAO: KIWA, FAA LID: IWA) is a commercial airport located in the southeastern area of the city Mesa, Arizona and 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States.[1] The airport covers 3,020 acres (12 km²) and has three runways. Although Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is located in Mesa, the airport is owned and operated by the Williams Gateway Airport Authority. The airport authority is governed by a five member board, composed of the mayors and tribal governor of the Town of Gilbert, City of Mesa, Town of Queen Creek, Gila River Indian Community and the City of Phoenix.
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport will also serve as a focus city for Las Vegas-based carrier Allegiant Air.
Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is assigned IWA by the FAA and AZA by the IATA[2] (which assigned IWA to Yuzhny Airport in Ivanovo, Russia[3]). The airport's former IATA code was CHD.[4]
History
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport was built in 1941 and inaugurated in 1942 by the United States military as Williams Air Base. It served as a flight training field during World War II for military pilots. Military forces established a pilot school there, and many war airplanes that are now considered to be classics were seen there on a daily basis.
In 1948, Williams became the first jet training base, and in 1976 it was the first site of the Undergraduate Pilot Training program. [5]
The 1991 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission recommended closing the base as its operating costs were too costly for the United States government; the base continued operating until 1993.
As the base was being shut down, it was decided that, with the growing traffic at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, an alternative airport would be needed in the area. The runway was expanded to accommodate jets, and the facility reopened in 1994 as Williams Gateway Airport. Bids began to be made for some airlines to begin flights almost immediately.
In 2004, charter airline Ryan International Airlines began offering MD-82 jet flights from there to Bullhead City International Airport in Bullhead City, Arizona, which is adjacent to Laughlin, Nevada and many resorts.
In recent years, the airport has again become a center of flight training. Several large flight schools now take advantage of the great flying weather in the Phoenix valley.
On July 31, 2007, low-cost carrier Allegiant Air announced plans to open a focus city from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, connecting the Phoenix metropolitan area to 13 destinations which are set to begin throughout October and November, 2007. [6]
In a press release on September 17, 2007, the Williams Gateway Airport Authority approved a name change for Williams Gateway Airport effective October 15, 2007. The new name is now Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Reasons behind the name change are "to have the airport reach its highest potential in creating jobs and commercial service development." [7]
Airlines and Destinations
(As of November 21, 2007)
Scheduled Airlines
- Allegiant Air (Bellingham [begins October 27], Billings [begins November 16], Cedar Rapids/Iowa City [begins October 25], Chicago/Rockford [begins November 16], Fargo [begins November 15], Fort Wayne [begins November 21], Green Bay [begins November 15], Missoula [begins October 26], Peoria [begins October 27], Rapid City [begins November 21], Santa Maria (CA) [begins October 26], Sioux Falls [begins October 25], Stockton [begins October 26])
Charter Airlines and Companies
- Air Evac (Medevac airline)
- Silver State Helicopters (Phoenix)
- SkyValue
- SkyValue operated by Xtra Airways (Gary/Chicago) [seasonal; operations suspended]
- Vision Holidays
- Vision Holidays operated by Vision Airlines (North Las Vegas)
Recreation
Training
- Advanced Training Systems International, a fighter combat and maintenance training school
- Silver State Helicopters Flight Academy
- Mesa Pilot Development
- Regional Airline Academy
- Airline Transport Professionals
- University of North Dakota Aerospace
Board of Directors
In 1994, the Willams Gateway Airport Authority was established with a three member board comprised of representation from the three cities immediately adjacent to Willaims Field. The original governing board consisted of the mayors of the Town of Gilbert, City of Mesa, and Town of Queen Creek, who continue as members today.
In later years, the Gila River Indian Community and the City of Phoenix joined the Williams Gateway board. Gila River Indian Community joined in 1995 and the City of Phoenix joined in 2006.
Now that the change of the Williams Gateway Airport name to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport has occured, the board approved resolution and ordinance will not change, diminish, give away, negate nor reduce any of the five board of directors and their respective city, community or town member voting authority. Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport continues to be owned and operated by the Williams Gateway Airport Authority.
A five-member airport Board of Directors comprises elected officials from neighboring cities. Authority communities are as of 2007:
References
- ^ a b FAA Airport Form 5010 for IWA PDF, effective 2007-07-05
- ^ Great Circle Mapper: AZA / KIWA - Phoenix, Arizona (Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport)
- ^ Great Circle Mapper: IWA / UUBI - Ivanovo, Russia (Yuzhne Airport)
- ^ Great Circle Mapper: CHD - Obsolete (see AZA)
- ^ "The Southeast Valley Insider". The Arizona Republic. 2006-03-30.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Allegiant announces Phoenix-area Focus City
- ^ Williams Gateway Airport board approves name change to "Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport
External links
- Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (official web site)
- Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport at Arizona DOT web site
- Template:WikiMapia
- Williams Air Force Base at GlobalSecurity.org
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective October 3, 2024
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for IWA
- AirNav airport information for KIWA
- ASN accident history for CHD
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures