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Boeing Field

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King County International Airport

Boeing Field
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorKing County
ServesSeattle, Washington
LocationSeattle / Tukwila, King County, Washington, USA
Elevation AMSL21 ft / 6 m
Coordinates47°31′48″N 122°18′07″W / 47.53000°N 122.30194°W / 47.53000; -122.30194
Websitewww.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/Airport.aspx
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
13R/31L 10,000 3,048 Asphalt
13L/31R 3,710 1,131 Asphalt

Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport (IATA: BFI, ICAO: KBFI), is a two-runway airport owned and run by King County, Washington, USA. In promotional literature, the airport is frequently referred to as KCIA, but this is not the airport identifier. The airport has some passenger service, but is mostly used by general aviation and cargo. It is named after the founder of the Boeing Company, William E. Boeing.

The airport's property is located mostly in Seattle just south of Georgetown, with its southern tip extending into Tukwila. It is 594 acres (2.4 km²) in area and handles more than 375,000 operations yearly.

History

With the exception of the World War II period, when it was taken over by the U.S. government, Boeing Field was Seattle's main passenger airport from its construction in 1928 until Seattle-Tacoma International Airport began operations in the late 1940s. The Boeing Company continues to use the field for testing and delivery of its airplanes, and it is still a major regional cargo hub. It is also the regional selected landing zone for Air Force One when it visits the Seattle area.

Boeing Field currently lacks any major commercial passenger airline service. A proposal by Southwest Airlines in June 2005 was submitted to King County to relocate their operations in the Seattle area from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Boeing Field, but was rejected by King County Executive Ron Sims in October. A similar proposal by Alaska Airlines (a response to the Southwest proposal) was also rejected. Southwest Airlines' publicized rationale for the proposed move was so they could avoid the heavy fees being levied at Sea-Tac due to its expansion program.

The transfer of ownership of Boeing Field from King County to the Port of Seattle was proposed in 2007 as part of a land swap with land owned by the Port.[1]

Facilities

Boeing Company

The Boeing Company has facilities at the airport. Final preparations for delivery of Boeing 737 aircraft after the first test flight are made at Boeing Field.[2] Boeing facilities at the airport have also included a paint hangar[3] and flight test facilities.[4]

The initial assembly of the 737 was adjacent to Boeing Field in the 1960s because the factory in Renton was at capacity building the 707 and 727. After 271 aircraft, production was moved to Renton in late 1970.[5][6] Production of military airborne early warning and control aircraft based on the 737, such as Project Wedgetail (Australia) aircraft and Peace Eagle (Turkey) aircraft is located at Boeing Field.[7]

Museum of Flight

The Museum of Flight is located on the southwestern corner of the airfield. Among the aircraft on display include Concorde, a supersonic commercial aircraft that landed at Boeing Field on its first visit to Seattle on November 15, 1984.[8] Aircraft movement can be easily observed from the museum.

Police and fire response

The King County International Airport contracts with the King County Sheriff's Office for police services. Deputies assigned to the airport wear a mix of both Police and Fire uniforms, turnouts etc., which includes single Police, Fire/ARFF patch, and drive King County International Airport Police patrol cars. There are currently 17 patrol officers/sergeants and one chief assigned full time to the airport. Officers assigned to the airport are also required to obtain a Washington State Fire Fighter One certification and an Emergency Medical Technician certification.

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Kenmore Air Orcas Island, Friday Harbor, Port Angeles[9]
SeaPort Airlines Portland (OR), Newport (OR)[10]

Cargo

See also

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  1. ^ County, Port, BNSF Announce Signed Memoranda on Land Deal, Port of Seattle, February 26, 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  2. ^ Boeing Commercial Airplanes 737 Manufacturing Site The Boeing Company. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  3. ^ Earthquake Update:Frequently Asked Questions The Boeing Company, March 2, 2001. Retrieved 2009-02-22
  4. ^ Boeing Field 1969 The Boeing Company. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  5. ^ Wallace, J. "Boeing delivers its 5,000th 737," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 13, 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
  6. ^ Gates, Dominic. "Successor to Boeing 737 likely to be built in state." Seattle Times, December 30, 2005. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  7. ^ Boeing Conducts Successful First Flight of Australia's 737 Airborne Early Warning & Control Aircraft The Boeing Company, May 20, 2004. Retrieved 2009-02-22
  8. ^ Supersonic Concorde airliner pays its first visit to Seattle on November 15, 1984 Historylink.org. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  9. ^ Kenmore Air, Flying the Pacific Northwest Since 1946, Flight Finder Kenmore Air. Retrieved 2009-02-21
  10. ^ Slovan, M., Taking Off: Will a new type of commuter airline be the wave of the future? Seattle Magazine, February 2009, p. 50. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  11. ^ http://www.airpacairlines.com/
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