St. George Regional Airport

St. George Regional Airport (IATA: SGU, ICAO: KSGU, FAA LID: SGU) is a city-owned airport six miles southeast of St. George, in Washington County, Utah.[1]

St. George Regional Airport entrance.
For the former airport, see St. George Municipal Airport.
St. George Regional Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorCity of St. George
ServesSt. George, Utah
Elevation AMSL2,884 ft / 879 m
Coordinates37°02′11″N 113°30′37″W
Websitewww.flysgu.com
Map
SGU
SGU
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
1/19 9,300 2,835 Asphalt

The airport opened on January 13, 2011, a replacement for smaller land-locked St. George Municipal Airport, atop a mesa in the city, which was declared unsuitable for expansion. It is served by SkyWest Airlines for American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. SkyWest, one of the largest regional airlines in the world, is based in St. George.

The former airport used SGU as the location identifier for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and International Air Transport Association (IATA). The new airport was assigned a transitional identifier DXZ by the FAA, but retained the IATA designation SGU.[2] On December 15, 2011, the FAA returned SGU to use at the new airport.

History

The prospect of a new airport for the region has been around for many years. The old airport, on top of a mesa, has no room for expansion. The runway and terminal were too small for larger aircraft. With the growth of the area and tourism increasing, the need for a new airport became vital. It was built about 6 miles southeast of downtown at the site of an abandoned airfield which had not seen air traffic since 1961 and most recently has been used for vehicle drag racing and radio controlled aircraft.

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the present airport was completed in August 2006. The study concluded the impact on the environment and noise pollution would be minimal. Plans for the airport included a single runway suitable for regional jets and larger mainline aircraft. SkyWest Airlines operating as the Delta Connection announced that on January 13, 2011 the airline would begin nonstop Canadair CRJ regional jet service to Salt Lake City from the airport. SkyWest subsequently initiated nonstop Canadair CRJ regional jet service to Denver operating as United Express.[3] The runway was initially planned to be oriented at about 010/190 degrees. It was also initially planned to be 9,300 by 150 feet (2,835 by 46 m) with subsequent plans for the runway to be extended to 11,500 by 150 feet (3,505 by 46 m) feet. Pilots use Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center for approach services and use a common traffic advisory service frequency because of the lack of an operating control tower.

The new St. George Airport was partially funded by grants from the FAA totaling $123 million. The entire project was expected to cost about 159 million dollars.[4] The city broke ground on the new site in October 2008 and the airfield opened on January 13, 2011.

On July 13, 2015 the airport changed its name from St. George Municipal Airport to St. George Regional Airport to attract more airline services to the airport.[5]

Late in 2018 Allegiant Air announced flights from St. George to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport from November 9 of that year,[6] which were the first mainline jets to St George, since Allegiant only operates Airbus jets. Allegiant Air later suspended all flights to St. George Regional Airport.

2019 closure

The airport was closed in May 2019 for reconstruction of its lone runway. Officials found soil issues at the airport only a few years after its opening, and sealed cracks quickly became ubiquitous on the runway and tarmac. The airport was closed through September 2019 as crews excavated as much as 17 feet of earth below the runway.[7] During the closure, the nearest commercial service airports would be Cedar City Regional Airport, 68 miles northeast, or McCarran International Airport near Las Vegas, 129 miles southwest.

Facilities

St. George Regional Airport covers 1,204 acres (487 ha); its single runway, 1/19, is 9,300 by 150 feet (2,835 x 46 m).[1] The airport has a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) terminal.[4]

Airlines and destinations

The old St. George Municipal Airport was served by Bonanza Air Lines which in the late 1950s began flying Douglas DC-3s to Salt Lake City via Cedar City and Provo, and to Phoenix via Prescott.[8] By 1962 Bonanza had replaced its DC-3s with new Fairchild F-27s and had quit flying to St George, instead serving Cedar City, Utah with the F-27.[9] SkyWest Airlines started flying to Salt Lake City on June 19, 1972 via Cedar City.[10] SkyWest would later introduce Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners followed by Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias to the old airport before moving to the new airport.

In November 2016 American Eagle (SkyWest Airlines) CRJ 200s began flying to St. George from Phoenix.[11]

Passenger
AirlinesDestinationsRefs
American Eagle Phoenix–Sky Harbor
Delta Connection Salt Lake City
United Express Denver

Statistics

Top destinations
Busiest domestic routes from SGU
(November 2018- October 2019)[12]
Rank Airport Passengers Carrier
1 Salt Lake City, Utah 36,110 Delta Connection
2 Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Arizona 31,280 American Eagle
3 Denver, Colorado 21,490 United Express
4 Los Angeles, California 7,970 United Express
5 Phoenix–Mesa, Arizona 2,650 Allegiant
6 Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas 1,400 American Eagle

Accidents and incidents
  • On May 26, 2012 at around 1:30 a.m., four people were killed when a Cessna 172 crashed during take-off from St. George Municipal Airport. The airport is not staffed at night and uses an automated system, so the wreckage was not found until more than 4 hours later. A security camera captured the plane taking off.[13]
  • On July 17, 2012 a SkyWest Airlines Bombardier CRJ200, Delta Connection aircraft, was stolen by SkyWest employee Brian Hedglin, and substantially damaged at the airport. The terminal and a jetway also were damaged. The plane was not put back in service.[14]

Between the St. George Municipal and Regional Airports there have been a total of 21 accidents and incidents in and around the Airport since 1982.[15]

References
  1. FAA Airport Master Record for SGU (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. effective 30 June 2011.
  2. "St. George Municipal Airport (IATA: SGU, ICAO: KSGU, FAA: SGU)". Great Circle Mapper. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  3. http://www.united.com, Timetable
  4. "About SGU - St. George Municipal Airport". FlySGU.com. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  5. Kessler, Mori (July 11, 2015). "City approves airport name change, pursuing expanded service". Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  6. Posted 9:20 am, August 21, 2018, by Mark Green (2018-08-21). "Allegiant to offer nonstop flights from St. George to Phoenix". fox13now.com. Retrieved 2018-11-17.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. "St. George airport to close for repairs for part of 2019, with FAA picking up most of the tab". September 20, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  8. http://www.timetableimages.com, Jan. 4, 1959 Bonanza timetable
  9. http://www.timetableimages.com, Jan. 16, 1963 Bonanza timetable
  10. http://www.skywest.com, About, History, First Flight
  11. "American adds Phoenix – St. George route from Nov 2016". Routesonline. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  12. George, UT: St George Regional&carrier=FACTS "St George, UT: St George Regional (SGU)" Check |url= value (help). Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), U.S. Department of Transportation. December 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  13. "Small plane crashes at airport in southern Utah, killing 4". BNO News. 28 May 2012. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  14. The Spectrum (Gannett), "Fugitive steals SkyWest jet, commits suicide at St. George airport", 17 July 2012 (accessed 17 July 2012)
  15. https://planecrashmap.com/list/ut/
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