Valley International Airport

Valley International Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of Harlingen
Serves Harlingen, Texas
Elevation AMSL 36 ft / 11 m
Coordinates 26°13′38″N 097°39′18″W / 26.22722°N 97.65500°W / 26.22722; -97.65500Coordinates: 26°13′38″N 097°39′18″W / 26.22722°N 97.65500°W / 26.22722; -97.65500
Website www.FlyTheValley.com
Map
HRL
Location in Texas
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17R/35L 8,301 2,530 Asphalt
13/31 7,257 2,212 Asphalt
17L/35R 5,949 1,813 Asphalt
Statistics (2012)
Aircraft operations 36,616
Based aircraft 43

Valley International Airport (VIA) (IATA: HRL, ICAO: KHRL, FAA LID: HRL) is owned by the City of Harlingen, in Cameron County, Texas.[1] Valley International Airport is operated by a nine-member airport board appointed by the mayor. HRL is centrally located in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) making it a logical choice for travel to the area. Valley International is often referred to as the "Gateway to South Padre Island" with travel amenities that provide door to door transportation to South Padre Island. With over 2,400 acres HRL is the largest airport in the RGV with room and resources to meet future airline expansion needs. HRL also provides the longest runways in the area with modern aircraft approach systems that minimize chances of travel delays during inclement weather.

Current airlines providing air service to HRL include Southwest Airlines, United Airlines (via United Express), American Airlines (via American Eagle), Frontier Airlines, Delta Air Lines (seasonally via Delta Connection) and Sun Country Airlines (seasonal service). These air carriers provide nonstop service to Austin (AUS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Denver (DEN), Houston (IAH and HOU), and Minneapolis/St. Paul (seasonal service to MSP). HRL is also a large air cargo port currently ranked in the top 80 airports in the United States. FedEx and DHL operations are serviced with daily wide-body aircraft providing both domestic and international freight forwarding services.

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport.[2] Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 417,557 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[3] 367,269 in 2009 and 373,438 in 2010.[4]

History

After the airport's closure by the military in 1962 following a 1961 budget proposal by President John F. Kennedy to close 70 air bases in the U.S., the airfield was turned over to the City of Harlingen and then converted to civil use as Valley International Airport after Hurricane Beulah flooded the original Harlingen civil airport (at 26°12′22″N 97°45′14″W / 26.206°N 97.754°W / 26.206; -97.754) in 1967.

Historical airline service

Trans-Texas Airways (TTa) and its successor Texas International Airlines served the airport for many years.[5] In 1968, Trans-Texas was serving Harlingen with Douglas DC-9-10 twin jets with nonstop flights to Corpus Christi and Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) as well as direct jet service to Dallas Love Field (DAL), Little Rock, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee.[6] Trans-Texas was also operating Convair 600 turboprops into the airport at this time with nonstop flights to Monterrey, Mexico and Tampico, Mexico with direct one stop service to Veracruz, Mexico in addition to Convair 600 flights to Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, Laredo, San Antonio and other destinations in Texas.[6] By 1978, Texas International was operating all flights from the airport with DC-9 jets with nonstop service to Austin and Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and was also flying daily direct service from Harlingen to Los Angeles (LAX) via intermediate stops at Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Albuquerque.[7] Texas International subsequently merged with Continental Airlines which eventually resumed service to Harlingen after Texas International had ceased all flights into the airport. Continental then merged with United Airlines which continues to serve the airport via United Express with Canadair CRJ-700 regional jets operated by SkyWest Airlines and Embraer ERJ 145 regional jets flown by ExpressJet Airlines.[8]

Several major airlines operated mainline jet service into the airport in the past included American Airlines with Boeing 727-100s and Boeing 727-200s, Braniff International Airways with Boeing 727-200s and Continental Airlines with Boeing 727-100s, Douglas DC-9-10s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s.[9][10][11] In 1982, Braniff was operating nonstop 727 service to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) three times a day with continuing direct one stop service Chicago, Denver and Omaha[12] In 1987, Continental was operating four DC-9 nonstops a day to Houston (IAH) with continuing direct one stop service to Baton Rouge, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Omaha.[13] In 1989, American was operating five daily Boeing 727-200 departures from Harlingen with four nonstop flights to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and one nonstop flight to Houston (IAH) while at the same time Continental was operating three daily nonstops to Houston (IAH) including one flight with a Boeing 727-100 and two flights with Douglas DC-9-10 aircraft .[14] By 1999, American Eagle operating ATR-72 turboprops nonstop to DFW had replaced American mainline jet service while Continental Express flying ATR-42 turboprops nonstop to IAH had replaced Continental mainline jet flights.[15]

Southwest Airlines began serving Harlingen as an intrastate airline in 1975 with Boeing 737-200 jets and currently flies later model 737s into airport.[16] Harlingen was the fourth new destination served by Southwest following its initiation of service from Dallas, Houston and San Antonio as a new start up air carrier in 1971.[16] By 1979, the airline was serving Harlingen with Boeing 727-200 jetliners as well as with Boeing 737 jets.[17] In 1986, Southwest was operating ten 737 departures every weekday from the airport with seven nonstop flights to Houston Hobby Airport (HOU), two nonstop flights to San Antonio (SAT) and one nonstop flight to Austin (AUS) and was also operating eight direct one stop flights a day to Dallas Love Field (DAL) as well as direct, no change of plane service to Phoenix (PHX) on a daily basis.[18]

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Harlingen once again had international service to Mexico with flights operated by Mexicana de Aviacion nonstop to both Mexico City and Monterrey flown with Boeing 727-100 jets.[19]

Sun Country Airlines previously operated McDonnell Douglas DC-10 wide body jetliners as well as Boeing 727-200 jets into the airport at one point on a seasonal basis from Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) during the winter months and continues to serve Harlingen seasonally with Boeing 737-800 jets.[20]

Delta Airlines started seasonal service to Harligen in 2013 from its Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) hub using Airbus A320's and continues to fly the seasonal route using CRJ-900's. [21]

Facilities

Valley International Airport covers 2,428 acres (983 ha) at an elevation of 36 feet (11 m). It has three asphalt runways: 17R/35L is 8,301 by 150 feet (2,530 x 46 m); 13/31 is 7,257 by 150 feet (2,212 x 46 m); 17L/35R is 5,949 by 150 feet (1,813 x 46 m).[1]

In 2011 the airport had 43,731 aircraft operations, averaging 119 per day: 36% general aviation, 34% military, 22% airline, and 8% air taxi. 32 aircraft were then based at the airport: 88% single-engine, 9% multi-engine, and 3% jet.[1]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinationsRefs
American Eagle Dallas/Fort Worth (begins March 3, 2019)[22]
Delta Connection Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul
Frontier Airlines Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare (begins November 21, 2018),[23] Denver (begins November 22, 2018)[24]
Southwest Airlines Austin, Dallas-Love (begins March 10, 2019), [25] Houston–Hobby
Sun Country Airlines Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul [26]
United Express Houston–Intercontinental

Cargo

AirlinesDestinationsRefs
DHL Aviation Cincinnati
FedEx Express Memphis

Top destinations

Top domestic routes from HRL
(Jun 2017 – May 2018)
[27]
Rank City Passengers Carriers
1 Houston–Hobby, Texas 157,000 Southwest
2 Houston–Intercontinental, Texas 57,000 United
3 Austin, Texas 26,000 Southwest
4 Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota 19,000 Delta, Sun Country

Airport design

  • The airport has seven gates. Delta operates at Gate 2, Frontier and Sun Country at Gate 4, Southwest at Gates 5 and 6, and United at Gate 7.

Services

  • Shopping and dining options include Island Restaurant and Coffee, Jackson Street Café & Bar, The Paradies Shops, Padre Pub, and Pelican Bar.
  • A parking lot shuttle and a shuttle to South Padre Island are available.

Incidents

On April 2, 2012, United Express flight 4128 made an emergency landing at Corpus Christi due to unknown reasons when it suffered damage to its front landing gear and also experienced a flat tire. The flight originated in Harlingen and was heading to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. There were 37 passengers on board and there were no injuries. The aircraft was an Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet operated by ExpressJet on a code sharing flight on behalf of United Airlines.[28]

Area airports

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 FAA Airport Master Record for HRL (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective November 15, 2012.
  2. "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF, 2.03 MB). National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. External link in |work= (help)
  3. "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). CY 2008 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009. External link in |work= (help)
  4. "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). CY 2010 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011. External link in |work= (help)
  5. http://www.timetableimages.com, Trans-Texas Airways & Texas International Airlines system timetablesw
  6. 1 2 http://www.timetableimages.com, August 1968 Trans-Texas Airways system timetable
  7. http://www.departedflights.com, March 15, 1978 Texas International Airlines system timetable
  8. http://www.united.com, Flight Status
  9. http://www.departedflights.com, Feb. 15, 1985 & Dec. 15, 1989 Official Airline Guides (OAG), Harlingen flight schedules
  10. http://www.departedflights.com, April 25, 1982 Braniff International Airlines system timetable
  11. http://www.airliners.net, photos of American Airlines, Braniff International and Continental aircraft at Harlingen
  12. http://www.departedflights.com, April 25, 1982 Braniff International Airways system timetable
  13. http://www.departedflights.com, Feb. 1, 1987 Continental Airlines system timetable
  14. http://www.departedflights.com, Dec. 15, 1989 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Dallas/Fort Worth-Harlingen & Houston-Harlingen flight schedules
  15. http://www.departedflights.com, June 1, 1999 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Harlingen flight schedules
  16. 1 2 https://www.southwest.com, Company, Our History
  17. http://www.departedflights.com, Nov. 15, 1979 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Houston Hobby-Harlingen flight schedules
  18. http://www.departedflights.com, Jan. 12, 1986 Southwest Airlines system timetable
  19. http://www.departedflights.com, Nov. 15, 1979 & April 1, 1981 Official Airline Guides (OAG), Harlingen flight schedules
  20. https://www.suncountry.com, About Sun Country & Flight Schedules
  21. Star, Charlene Vandini, Valley Morning. "Delta Airlines to launch Harlingen-Minneapolis/St. Paul route". The Monitor. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  22. https://valleycentral.com/news/local/american-airlines-to-begin-flying-into-harlingen-starting-in-march-2019
  23. Kelley, Rick. "Frontier Airlines coming to Harlingen airport". Valley Morning Star. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  24. Kelley, Rick. "Frontier Airlines coming to Harlingen airport". Valley Morning Star. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  25. https://www.swamedia.com/releases/release-6ef4ac045e1f792fbc952ffc65061bc3-spring-forward-southwest-airlines-gets-ready-for-spring-break-with-more-nonstop-routes
  26. Halter, Nick (June 22, 2016). "Sun Country Airlines brings back nonstop flights to Harlingen, Texas". Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
  27. "RITA - Transtats". BTS. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  28. "United Flight 4128 Makes Emergency Landing In Corpus Christi Texas". The Florida News Journal. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
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