Grant County International Airport

Grant County International Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Port of Moses Lake
Serves Grant County, Washington (Primarily Moses Lake)
Elevation AMSL 1,189 ft / 362 m
Coordinates 47°12′31″N 119°19′09″W / 47.20861°N 119.31917°W / 47.20861; -119.31917Coordinates: 47°12′31″N 119°19′09″W / 47.20861°N 119.31917°W / 47.20861; -119.31917
Website PortOfMosesLake.com
Map
MWH
Location of airport in Washington
MWH
MWH (the US)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
14L/32R 13,503 4,116 Asphalt/Concrete
4/22 10,000 3,048 Asphalt/Concrete
9/27 3,500 1,067 Concrete
18/36 3,327 1,014 Asphalt
14R/32L 2,936 895 Concrete
Statistics (2015)
Aircraft operations 73,348
Based aircraft 51

Grant County International Airport (IATA: MWH, ICAO: KMWH, FAA LID: MWH) is a public use airport in the northwest United States, located six miles (10 km) northwest of the central business district of Moses Lake in Grant County, Washington. Formerly a military facility, the airport is owned by the Port of Moses Lake,[1] and its 13,500-foot (4,110 m) runway is one of the longest in the world.

As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 1,369 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[2] 2,920 enplanements in 2009, and 1,442 in 2010.[3] It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation airport.[4]

History

Opened as a training airfield during World War II, the facility was operated by the U.S. Air Force as Larson Air Force Base until 1966.[5][6] Passenger air service to and from Moses Lake ended on June 8, 2010.[7]

Overview

With 4,650 acres (7.3 sq mi; 18.8 km2) and a 13,500-foot (4,110 m) main runway, it is one of the largest airports in the United States. Moses Lake is famous for good flying weather, as it is located on the east side of the Cascade Range, in the semi-arid desert of central Washington.

Grant County International Airport was an alternate landing site for the NASA Space Shuttle.[8]

Scheduled passenger flights on Big Sky Airlines to Boise and Portland were discontinued on September 1, 2006. The service was subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. United Express, operated by SkyWest Airlines offered nonstop flights to Seattle from June 2009 until June 2010. The airport currently has no commercial air service.

The airport was used for heavy jet training by Japan Airlines (JAL) for over forty years, until the closing of their training offices in March 2009.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

In November 1974, the airport hosted a new Supersonic Transport (SST) Concorde for a month during FAA certification testing.[16][17][18]

It is also utilized by the U.S. Air Force and Boeing as a testing facility. Most of the traffic at the airport is general and military aviation.

In 2011, the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild AFB in Spokane temporarily moved its KC-135 R/T fleet and operations to Moses Lake while Fairchild's runway underwent reconstruction and other infrastructure improvements, to include an upgrade to the base's aviation fuel distribution system.[19][20]

The main campus for Big Bend Community College is also located on the grounds of the airport.

Facilities and aircraft

Grant Co. International Airport covers an area of 4,650 acres (1,880 ha) at an elevation of 1,189 feet (362 m) above sea level. It has five runways:[1]

  • Runway 14L/32R is 13,503 by 200 feet (4,116 by 61 m), with an asphalt/concrete surface
  • Runway 4/22 is 10,000 by 100 feet (3,048 by 30 m), with an asphalt/concrete surface
  • Runway 9/27 is 3,500 by 90 feet (1,067 by 27 m), with a concrete surface
  • Runway 18/36 is 3,327 by 75 feet (1,014 by 23 m), with an asphalt surface
  • Runway 14R/32L is 2,936 by 75 feet (895 by 23 m), with a concrete surface

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2015, the airport had 73,348 aircraft operations, an average of 201 per day: 65% general aviation, 24% military, 7% air carrier and 4% air taxi. At that time there were 49 fixed-wing aircraft and 2 gliders based at this airport: 84% single-engine , 12% multi-engine, and 4% glider.[1]

Cargo Carriers

AirlinesDestinations
Ameriflight Burlington/Mount Vernon, Seattle–Boeing
FedEx Feeder Spokane

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 FAA Airport Master Record for MWH (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective April 5, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
  4. ↑ "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF, 2.03 MB) on October 27, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Grant County airport". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (photo). September 16, 1966. p. 6.
  6. ↑ "Larson AFB".
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 26, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  8. ↑ John Pike. "SPACE SHUTTLE EMERGENCY LANDING SITES".
  9. ↑ "Japan Airlines: fuel too pricey for Moses Lake". KOMO TV (Associated Press). November 20, 2008. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Japan Air Lines welcomed". Spokane Daily Chronicle. November 22, 1968. p. 5.
  11. ↑ Geranios, Nicholas K. (December 26, 1988). "Baseless existence". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. p. A3.
  12. ↑ Lynch, Lynne (November 10, 2008). "JAL marks 40th anniversary". Columbia Basin Herald. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  13. ↑ Crowell, Todd (February 4, 1980). "An honorable match". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 9.
  14. ↑ "Japan Air Lines trains 747 pilots at U.S. facility". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. August 10, 1982. p. C-10.
  15. ↑ Hansen, Dan (November 23, 2008). "JAL ends Moses Lake stay". Seattle Times. (Spokesman-Review). Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Concorde will undergo testing in Washington". Bend Bulletin. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 25, 1974. p. 15.
  17. ↑ "Supersonic jet dazzles Inland Empire". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). (photo). November 8, 1974. p. 3.
  18. ↑ Cowles, Cheney (November 8, 1974). "SST streaks in for basin tests". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 6.
  19. ↑ Wasson, David (January 20, 2011). "Work relocates Fairchild tankers". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  20. ↑ King, Scott (January 24, 2011). "Fairchild relocates KC-135 flying OPS". United States Air Force. 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs. Archived from the original on April 17, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2013.

Other sources

  • Essential Air Service documents (Docket OST-1998-3344) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
    • Order 2001-6-22 (June 28, 2001): selecting Big Sky Airlines, to provide essential air service at Ephrata/Moses Lake, Washington, for a two-year period at an annual subsidy of $479,702.
    • Order 2004-12-18 (December 30, 2004): selecting Big Sky Transportation Company, Inc., to continue providing essential air service (EAS) at Ephrata/Moses Lake, Washington, for a new two-year period. This order establishes a subsidy of $1,698,922 per year for service consisting of twelve nonstop round trips to Portland and six nonstop round trip to Boise each week.
    • Order 2006-6-8 (June 12, 2006): directing interested persons to show cause why the Department should not terminate the subsidy eligibility of Ephrata/Moses Lake, Washington, under the essential air service (EAS) program and allow Big Sky Transportation Company, Inc., d/b/a Big Sky Airlines (Big Sky) to suspend service there as of August 1, 2006.
    • Order 2006-8-16 (August 22, 2006): terminating the subsidy eligibility of Ephrata/Moses Lake, Washington, under the essential air service (EAS) program and allowing Big Sky Transportation Company, Inc., d.b.a. Big Sky Airlines to suspend service, if it chooses.


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