Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport

Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport
Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport
	Aerial photo as of 31 December 1998
	FAA Airport Diagram
	IATA: SRQ; ICAO: KSRQ; FAA LID: SRQ SRQLocation of the Airport in Florida;
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority
Serves	Sarasota / Bradenton, Florida
Location	Manatee / Sarasota counties, near Sarasota, Florida
Elevation AMSL	30 ft / 9 m
Coordinates	27°23′44″N 082°33′16″W / 27.39556°N 82.55444°W
Runways
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations
Aircraft operations	163,870
Based aircraft	266
	Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (IATA: SRQ, ICAO: KSRQ, FAA LID: SRQ) is an airport located between Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida. The airport is shared by both Manatee County (airfield) and Sarasota County (terminal). Most airlines refer to the airport on destination maps and flight status displays as just "Sarasota", as that is the more widely known city. The airport is usually referred to locally as "SRQ" (the airport code). A large portion of the airport's commercial airline service occurs during the winter and spring months, as the area is a popular tourist destination and seasonal home for snowbirds during the winter and spring months.

History

See: Sarasota Army Airfield for the World War II use of the airport

Air Force One was at the airport on September 11, 2001. George W. Bush was at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota when Andrew Card first informed him of the September 11, 2001 attacks at 9:05 AM. Bush returned to the airport. It taxied at 9:54 AM and lifted off at 9:55 AM flying first to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.^[2]

Like many mid-sized American airports, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport experienced financial woes in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Additionally, two airlines servicing SRQ, Canada 3000 and Canadian Airlines, ceased operations, the first bankrupt and the second acquired by Air Canada.

However, in 2003, AirTran Airways began service as the result of a nationwide marketing poll sponsored by the airline. The poll's results indicated that Sarasota-Bradenton was one of several smaller airports that AirTran's customers would prefer the airline service. Consequently, AirTran added service to Atlanta-Hartsfield/Jackson, and Baltimore-Washington International, and as of 2011 the airline serves six U.S. destinations with non-stop flights from SRQ.

Financial concerns were faced again in September 2005, when Delta Air Lines, the carrier with the largest market share out of SRQ [1], filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While initially there was great concern regarding Delta's bankruptcy filing's effect on the financial stability of the airport, especially if Delta were to have reduced local operations, in fact Delta has since announced new service out of SRQ, which included expanded service to Atlanta, and new service to New York's LaGuardia Airport, and Boston's Logan International Airport. All of that service was cut back or discontinued, but new winter/spring seasonal service to Boston and LaGuardia was recently announced by Delta.

In January 2012, AirTran Airways announced that it will cease operations on August 12, 2012 as part of its merger with Southwest.^[3]

Governance

The current President, CEO is Frederick "Rick" J. Piccolo. The airport is governed by the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority. The board is made up of six, governor appointed individuals, three from Sarasota County and three from Manatee county. The reason for the split is that the airport actually has portions in both counties.

Facilities and aircraft

Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport covers an area of 1,102 acres (446 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 14/32 measuring 9,500 x 150 ft (2,896 x 46 m) and 4/22 measuring 5,009 x 150 ft (1,527 x 46 m).^[1]

For the 12-month period ending October 31, 2006, the airport had 163,870 aircraft operations, an average of 448 per day: 82% general aviation, 9% scheduled commercial, 7% air taxi, 2% military. At that time there were 266 aircraft based at this airport: 71% single-engine, 17% multi-engine, 9% jet and 3% helicopter.^[1]

Aircraft Operations

Year	Enplanements
2004	553,590
2005	635,268
2006	687,217
2007	787,972
2008	773,211

Enplanements are defined as a revenue generating passenger boarding an aircraft.^[4]

Based Aircraft

Single Engine 171, Multi Engine 33, Jet 34, Total 238, Helicopters 9, Gliders 0, Military 0^[5]

Airlines and destinations

Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport has a main terminal with gates B1-B14:

Main Terminal (B Gates)

Airlines	Destinations
Air Canada	Seasonal: Toronto-Pearson
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta New York-LaGuardia [begins December 15, 2012] Seasonal: Detroit,
JetBlue Airways	Boston, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia
United Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare
United Express operated by ExpressJet	Seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare, Newark, Washington-Dulles
US Airways	Seasonal: Charlotte
US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines	Charlotte
US Airways Express operated by Republic Airlines	Charlotte, Washington-Reagan

**Busiest Domestic Routes from SRQ (March 2011 – February 2012)^[6]**
Rank	Airport	Passengers	Carriers
1	Atlanta, GA	354,000	AirTran, Delta
2	Charlotte, NC	70,000	US Airways
3	New York (JFK)	59,000	JetBlue
4	Chicago, Il (Midway)	50,000	AirTran
5	Washington D.C. (Reagan)	24,000	US Airways
6	Boston, MA	21,000	JetBlue
7	Baltimore, MD	21,000	AirTran
8	Milwaukee, WI	17,000	AirTran
9	Indianapolis, IN	15,000	AirTran
10	Detroit, MI	8,000	Delta