Artesia Municipal Airport

Artesia Municipal Airport (IATA: ATS[2], ICAO: KATS, FAA LID: ATS) is a city-owned, public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) west of the central business district of Artesia, a city in Eddy County, New Mexico, United States.[1] It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.[3]

Artesia Municipal Airport
USGS 1997 orthophoto
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCity of Artesia
ServesArtesia, New Mexico
Elevation AMSL3,541 ft / 1,079 m
Coordinates32°51′09″N 104°28′04″W
Map
ATS
Location of airport in New Mexico
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
3/21 6,301 1,921 Asphalt
12/30 5,390 1,643 Asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Aircraft operations11,550
Based aircraft27

History

During 1943 and 1944 was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a contract glider training airfield. Big Spring Flying Service provided instruction. The mission of the school was to train glider pilot students in proficiency in operation of gliders in various types of towed and soaring flight, both day and night, and in servicing of gliders in the field. Used primarily C-47 Skytrains and Waco CG-4 unpowered Gliders.

The facility was deactivated on September 8, 1944, with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program. Declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on September 30, 1945. Eventually discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and returned to being a civil airport. [4] [5] [6]

The airport saw scheduled airline service in 1963/1964 from Bison Airlines and again in 1975 through 1978 from Roswell Airlines which provided flights to Albuquerque and El Paso. Roswell Airlines changed to New Mexico Air before the company ceased operations.[7]

Facilities and aircraft

Artesia Municipal Airport covers an area of 1,440 acres (583 ha) at an elevation of 3,541 feet (1,079 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways with asphalt surfaces: 3/21 is 6,301 by 150 feet (1,921 x 46 m) and 12/30 is 5,390 by 150 feet (1,643 x 46 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending April 6, 2011, the airport had 11,550 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 31 per day. At that time there were 27 aircraft based at this airport: 74% single-engine, 19% multi-engine, and 7% jet.[1]

See also

References
  1. FAA Airport Form 5010 for ATS PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective May 31, 2012.
  2. "Airline and Airport Code Search". International Air Transport Association (IATA). Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  3. "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF, 2.03 MB) on 2012-09-27.
  4.  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
  5. Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
  6. Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas ASIN: B000NYX3PC.
  7. Roswell Airlines timetables


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