Jump to content

Orlando Sanford International Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jenniepierce567 (talk | contribs) at 17:36, 1 May 2016 (flyglobespan is not resuming anytime soon). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the main international airport serving the Orlando area, see Orlando International Airport. For the San Francisco radio station, see KSFB.
Orlando Sanford
International Airport
File:Orlando Sanford International Airport Logo.jpg
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerSanford Airport Authority
OperatorAirports Worldwide, Inc.
ServesOrlando, Florida
LocationSanford, Florida
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL55 ft / 17 m
Websiteorlandosanfordairport.com
Maps
FAA Airport Diagram
FAA Airport Diagram
SFB is located in Florida
SFB
SFB
Location within Florida
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
9C/27C 3,578 1,091 Asphalt
9L/27R 11,002 3,353 Asphalt
9R/27L 6,647 2,026 Asphalt
18/36 6,002 1,829 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2015)
Aircraft operations304,976
Based aircraft333
Passenger traffic annually (2015)2,480,122[1]

Orlando Sanford International Airport (IATA: SFB, ICAO: KSFB, FAA LID: SFB) is in Sanford, Florida, near Orlando. It was built as Naval Air Station Sanford, a Master Jet Base for carrier-based attack and reconnaissance aircraft until 1969.

Due to flight training, the airport is consistently in the top 30 busiest airports in the world in terms of total flight operations (takeoff and landings). It is the Orlando area's secondary commercial airport, but is farther away from downtown Orlando and the major theme parks (Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Florida and SeaWorld Orlando) than the primary airport, Orlando International Airport (MCO/KMCO).

The airport is owned by the Sanford Airport Authority, but is operated by Airports Worldwide, a company based in Houston that is majority owned by the Ontario Municipal Retirement System (OMERS) in partnership with the Houston Airport System (HAS) and Airport Development Company (ADC). Airports Worldwide is same company that owns Belfast International Airport, Stockholm Skavsta, Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport, Mariscal Sucre International Airport & Juan Santamaría International Airport and owner of TBI AM, operator of five management contracts in US.[3]

Because of that affiliation, passenger traffic at Orlando Sanford International Airport was once dominated by European charter carrier service. However, since 2008, a majority of passenger traffic has been domestic, attributable to the entrance of Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air, for which Sanford is a focus city.[4] Sanford was also a small focus city for the travel marketer Direct Air until the company's demise in 2012.

History

Main article: Naval Air Station Sanford

Orlando Sanford International Airport started life as Naval Air Station Sanford with the airport codes NRJ and KNRJ. Commissioned on November 3, 1942, the base initially concentrated on advanced land-based patrol plane training. It was used by the U.S. Navy until it closed in 1969.

Orlando Sanford International Airport

The City of Sanford assumed control of the former NAS Sanford in 1969 and renamed the facility Sanford Airport, hiring the air station's recently retired Executive Officer, Commander J. S. "Red" Cleveland, USN (Ret.), as the first Airport Manager. The city concurrently established the Sanford Airport Authority. For the next twenty-five years, the airport was a general aviation facility and periodically hosted civilian/military air shows and static displays. Initially an uncontrolled airfield, the control tower was reactivated in the early 1970s as a non-FAA facility, employing a number of retired enlisted Navy air traffic controllers who had served at NAS Sanford.

Additional name changes followed, to include Sanford Regional Airport, Central Florida Regional Airport, Orlando Sanford Regional Airport and the current Orlando Sanford International Airport. Through the 1980s and 1990s the oldest Navy buildings were demolished while those built in the 1950s and 1960s were renovated for civil use. New buildings and hangars were added.

OLF Osceola was transferred to the control of Seminole County, Florida but was never officially recommissioned as an active airfield. In the 1970s, the former OLF began to be used by general aviation drug smuggling aircraft as a transshipment point. Following a major drug interdiction by local and federal law enforcement agencies, Seminole County placed large "speed bumps at various intervals across the runway to deter future illegal use. By the 1980s the county began to use the site as a landfill and dump, demolishing the remaining runways.[5]

In 1992 parts of the action film Passenger 57, starring Wesley Snipes, were filmed at the then-Orlando Sanford Regional Airport, where it represented a small airport in Louisiana. Shortly after filming, a new control tower was built and air traffic control operations assumed by the FAA. The Navy control tower and the large Navy hangar to which it was attached were demolished.

In the mid-1990s a new passenger terminal capable of accommodating jet airliners was built. Charter airlines catering to the heavy British tourist demographic that had previously been using Orlando International Airport were offered greatly reduced landing fees at Sanford, so many carriers relocated their operations. Scheduled international and domestic flights followed, as reflected by current operations by Icelandair and Allegiant Air.

In 2010 Allegiant Air announced it was moving many flights to larger and more centrally located Orlando International Airport to compete with AirTran Airways. Due to passenger's comments, all flights have returned to Orlando Sanford.

In 2014, Thomas Cook Airlines moved back to the larger Orlando International Airport after almost a decade of serving Orlando Sanford. Icelandair followed with their own move in 2015.[6]

The airport is home to Aerosim Flight Academy, formerly Delta Connection Academy, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, which provides [ab initio] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) flight training for prospective regional airline and international pilots. The Seminole County Sheriff's Office has a hangar and support facility for aviation elements of the agency's Special Operations Division.

Facilities

The airport covers 3,000 acres (1,214 ha) and has four runways:

  • Runway 9L/27R: 11,002 x 150 ft. (3,353 x 46 m) Asphalt
  • Runway 9C/27C: 3,578 x 75 ft. (1,091 x 23 m) Asphalt
  • Runway 9R/27L: 6,647 x 75 ft. (2,026 x 23 m) Asphalt
  • Runway 18/36: 6,002 x 150 ft. (1,829 x 46 m) Asphalt/Concrete

The dominant runway is 9L/27R. This was built from the naval air station's original Runway 9/27, which was 8,000 ft (2,400 m) x 200 ft (61 m) with overruns of 2,145 ft (654 m) and 1,985 ft (605 m). Runway 9L/27R was recently extended 1,400 ft (430 m) to 11,000 ft (3,400 m). The project was completed on April 1, 2013. Parallel Runways 9C/27C and 9R/27L were built later, the former on a previous taxiway and the latter all-new, for small aircraft. The airport also has Runway 18/36, another Navy runway, for rare northerly fronts in the winter, but this 6000-ft runway is rarely used by airliners.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinationsTerminal
Allegiant Air Akron/Canton (begins May 19, 2016),[7] Allentown, Appleton, Asheville, Austin, Bangor, Belleville/St. Louis, Bloomington/Normal, Burlington, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Chattanooga, Chicago/Rockford, Cincinnati, Clarksburg, Columbus–Rickenbacker, Concord (NC), Dayton, Des Moines, Elmira/Corning, Evansville (begins June 2, 2016),[7] Fargo, Fayetteville/Bentonville, Flint, Fort Wayne, Grand Forks, Grand Rapids, Greensboro, Greenville–Spartanburg, Harrisburg, Huntington (WV), Indianapolis, Kansas City, Knoxville, Lexington, Little Rock, Memphis, New Orleans, Niagara Falls, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Owensboro, Peoria, Pittsburgh, Plattsburgh, Portsmouth (NH), Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Roanoke, Rochester (NY), San Antonio, Sioux Falls, South Bend, Springfield (IL), Springfield–Branson, Toledo, Tri-Cities (TN), Tulsa, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Youngstown/Warren
Seasonal: Bismarck, El Paso (begins May 27, 2016),[7] Grand Island, Hagerstown (MD), Laredo, McAllen, Moline/Quad Cities, Shreveport, Wichita (begins May 25, 2016)[7] 		A, B
Beau Rivage Resorts
operated by Sun Country Airlines[8][9] 		Charter: Gulfport/Biloxi B
Interjet Mexico City A
Jetairfly Seasonal: Brussels A
National Airlines Aguadilla (begins June 1, 2016),[10] San Juan, St. John's, Windsor B
Surinam Airways Seasonal: Georgetown–Cheddi Jagan A
Thomson Airways Seasonal: Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London–Gatwick, London–Stansted (begins May 4, 2016),[11] Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne A
TCS & Starquest Expeditions
operated by Thomson Airways[8][12] 		Seasonal Charter: Lima B
TUI Airlines Netherlands Amsterdam A

Statistics

Top destinations

Busiest domestic routes from SFB (Feb 2015 – Jan 2016)[13]
Rank City Passengers Carriers
1 Cincinnati, Ohio 53,000 Allegiant
2 Allentown, Pennsylvania 50,000 Allegiant
3 Knoxville, Tennessee 40,000 Allegiant
4 Lexington, Kentucky 39,000 Allegiant
5 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 34,000 Allegiant
6 Indianapolis, Indiana 28,000 Allegiant
7 Concord, North Carolina 27,000 Allegiant
8 Ashland, West Virginia 27,000 Allegiant
9 Bangor, Maine 27,000 Allegiant
10 Plattsburgh, New York 26,000 Allegiant

Annual traffic

Annual passenger traffic (enplaned + deplaned) at SFB, 1995 through 2014[1][4]
Year Passengers Year Passengers Year Passengers
2010 1,165,435 2000 1,086,635
2009 1,702,412 1999 939,962
2008 1,837,247 1998 1,198,803
2007 1,780,495 1997 1,044,496
2006 1,645,989 1996 669,576
2005 1,649,237 1995 48,186
2014 2,184,701 2004 1,834,315
2013 2,032,680 2003 1,253,862
2012 1,815,729 2002 1,263,662
2011 1,577,307 2001 1,222,391

Accidents and incidents

  • Numerous aircraft mishaps occurred during the World War II years, but detailed data is not readily available.
  • On March 29, 2007, Allegiant Air Flight 758, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft that took off from Pease International Airport in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, experienced a hydraulic failure that prevented the nose landing gear from deploying. The plane made a safe landing at Orlando Sanford International Airport, with only one minor injury sustained in the aircraft evacuation.[14][15]
  • On July 10, 2007, a Cessna 310, originating from Daytona Beach International Airport, Florida, en route to Lakeland Linder Regional Airport, Florida, crashed into two homes in Sanford, Florida, killing five people: the pilot, his passenger, and three people inside the houses. The pilot reported smoke in the cockpit and attempted an emergency landing at nearby Orlando Sanford International Airport. NASCAR said the pilot of the plane was Michael Klemm, a senior captain with NASCAR Aviation. His passenger was Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corporation president Lesa France Kennedy, the daughter of the longtime head of NASCAR Bill France, Jr., who had died a month earlier in June 2007. They were the only two people on the plane, according to both NASCAR and the NTSB. Four people also were injured, three of whom were critically burned, authorities said. The NTSB factual report dated December 2007 indicates that the accident was caused by an electrical malfunction, including smoke in the cockpit, that occurred on the previous flight and that was not rectified prior to the accident flight, resulting in the subsequent fire. The accident pilot was informed about the known problem prior to flight but elected to fly the aircraft regardless.
  • On October 8, 2010, Allegiant Air Flight 700, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, caught fire in the right engine shortly after departing the gate at Orlando Sanford International Airport. The fire was quickly extinguished, and the passengers safely exited the plane with no injuries being reported. The flight was scheduled to depart for Roanoke Regional Airport in Roanoke, Virginia, at 7 a.m.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b Monthly Statistics. Retrieved on March 6, 2015.
  2. ^ FAA Airport Form 5010 for SFB PDF, effective 2012-03-31
  3. ^ "Airport Development, Operations, Management - Airports Worldwide". Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  4. ^ a b Passenger Counts. Retrieved on March 6, 2015.
  5. ^ Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Florida, Daytona Beach area. Members.tripod.com (1944-03-15). Retrieved on 2013-07-23.
  6. ^ Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY (22 October 2014). "Icelandair to switch airports in Orlando". USA TODAY.
  7. ^ a b c d Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY (8 March 2016). "Fast-growing Allegiant adds 3 new cities, 22 new routes". USA TODAY.
  8. ^ a b https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/Charters%202015%20as%20of%20December%2016%2C%202015.pdf
  9. ^ http://www.orlandosanfordairport.com/destinations.asp
  10. ^ "Destinations". National Airlines. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  11. ^ "Thomson Airways Adds New Long-Haul Routes in S16".
  12. ^ "Around the World Classic 2016".
  13. ^ > "RITA - BTS - Transtats". Retrieved 30 Apr 2016.
  14. ^ Jet With 147 Passengers On Board Makes Emergency Landing – Boston News Story – WCVB Boston
  15. ^ "Allegiant Jet Moved After Emergency Landing". WESH. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  16. ^ Jetliner Catches Fire At Sanford Airport – Orlando News Story – WKMG Orlando

Media related to Orlando Sanford International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orlando_Sanford_International_Airport&oldid=718123791"