Elko Regional Airport

Elko Regional Airport (IATA: EKO, ICAO: KEKO, FAA LID: EKO), formerly Elko Municipal Airport, is a mile west of downtown Elko, in Elko County, Nevada.[1]

For the airport in British Columbia, Canada, see Elko/Lionel P. Demers Memorial Airpark.
Elko Regional Airport

J.C. Harris Field
Terminal
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCity of Elko
ServesElko, Nevada
Elevation AMSL5,140 ft / 1,567 m
Coordinates40°49′30″N 115°47′30″W
Websitewww.flyelkonevada.com
Map
EKO
EKO
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
6/24 7,455 2,272 Asphalt
12/30 2,871 875 Asphalt
Statistics (2014)
Aircraft operations20,151
Based aircraft79
FAA diagram

The airport was named J.C. Harris Field in 1975 in honor of Jess C. Harris, a sheriff from Elko known as "The Flying Sheriff".[2]

History

Originally called Elko Airport, the airfield took on the name Keddie Field by 1935, then Elko Municipal Airport by 1947 and ultimately to Elko Regional Airport by the 2000's.[3]

Historical Airline Service

On April 6, 1926 the airfield became the terminus for the first scheduled air mail run in the United States, flown by Varney Air Lines.[4]The route operated from Pasco, WA to Boise, ID to Elko, NV. By 1928 the mail route was redirected from Boise to Salt Lake City and Elko had become one of ten stops on a new route from San Francisco to Chicago operated by Boeing Air Transport. Boeing and Varney later became predecessors of United Air Lines.

By 1931 Elko became a stop on a transcontinental passenger flight between New York City and San Francisco.[5] In a 1931 timetable United Airlines predecessor National Air Transport is shown flying New York City–Cleveland–Toledo–Chicago, connecting to Boeing Air Transport's flight to Iowa City–Des Moines–Omaha–Lincoln–North Platte–Cheyenne–Rock Springs–Salt Lake City–Elko, and on to Reno–Sacramento–Oakland. Scheduled time of this flight was 31 hours westbound and 28 hours eastbound. By 1933 Boeing and National Air Transport were flying as United Airlines. By 1953 eastbound flights serving Elko would terminate at Salt Lake City and in 1955 a stop was added at Ely, Nevada. United served Elko with Boeing 247, Douglas DC-3, Convair 340, and Douglas DC-6B piston powered aircraft. The DC-6Bs operating on the San Francisco to Salt Lake City route stopping in Reno, Elko, and Ely were United's last non-jet service in the U.S.[6]

In 1970 United replaced the DC-6 service with Convair 580s operated by Frontier Airlines (1950-1986); the flights used the "UA" airline code.[7] Starting in November 1977 United brought their service back in house operating Boeing 737-200s on a San Francisco - Reno - Elko - Ely - Salt Lake City - Denver routing with one round trip each day. United ended this flight on April 1, 1982.

Several small commuter airlines served Elko as well. In the mid-1970's Scenic Airlines flew to Ely and Las Vegas and Sun Valley Key Commuter flew to Salt lake City and Reno. Chaparral Aviation flew from Elko to several smaller communities throughout northern Nevada in the early 1980's. Scenic Airlines returned from 1999 through 2006 again with flights to Elko and Las Vegas via the North Las Vegas Airport.[8]

Royal West Airlines flew BAe 146-200 jets nonstop to Las Vegas for a short time in 1987.[9]

Casino Express Airlines was established in 1987 and based in Elko. The carrier supported the Red Lion Hotel and Casino, flying scheduled charter Boeing 737-200s from Elko to many cities throughout the U.S. starting in 1989. In 1994 Casino Express scheduled weekend only flights nonstop between Elko and Portland, OR and Seattle with McDonnell Douglas MD-80s.[10] Casino Express changed its name to Xtra Airways in 2005 and ended jet service to Elko by 2010 moving its headquarters to Boise, Idaho.


SkyWest Airlines began serving Elko in 1982 as an independent commuter carrier to fill the void left by the departure of United Airlines. The carrier flew Swearingen Metros to Reno, Salt Lake City and Ely.[11] In 1986 SkyWest began operating as Western Express for Western Airlines via code sharing agreement with flights to Reno and Salt Lake City using Metroliners.[12] Following the merger of Western into Delta Air Lines in 1987, SkyWest became a Delta Connection carrier and in 1988 began flying Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias on its flights to Reno and Salt Lake City.[13] The flights to Reno ended in 2005. In 2015 SkyWest upgraded from the Brasilia aircraft to 50-seat Bombardier CRJ100/200 regional jets however the frequency of flights was reduced to two per day. SkyWest continues to serve the airport as a Delta Connection carrier and is the only airline at Elko.

Facilities

Elko Regional Airport covers 700 acres (280 ha) and has two asphalt runways: 5/23 is 7,214 x 150 ft (2,199 x 46 m) and 12/30 is 2,871 x 60 ft (875 x 18 m).[1]

In the year ending August 31, 2007 the airport had 16,520 aircraft operations, average 45 per day: 73% general aviation, 27% air taxi and <1% military. 69 aircraft were then based at this airport: 77% single-engine, 10% multi-engine, 6% jet and 7% helicopter.[1]

Airline and destination
AirlinesDestinations
Delta Connection Salt Lake City

SkyWest (Delta Connection) flies Bombardier CRJ-200s to Delta Air Lines' hub at Salt Lake City International Airport.

Top destinations
Busiest domestic routes from EKO
(Dec 2015 - Nov 2016)[14]
Rank City Passengers Carriers
1 Salt Lake City, Utah 15,000 Delta

References
  1. FAA Airport Form 5010 for EKO PDF, effective 2016-09-15
  2. "Air Mail Pioneers: Jess C. Harris". Archived from the original on 2006-10-04. Retrieved 2006-10-16.
  3. United Air Lines timetables
  4. "Elko Airport". Nevada State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  5. http://www.timetableimages.com, June 15, 1931 United timetable
  6. http://www.timetableimages.com, April 27, 1969 United timetable
  7. North American Official Airline Guide, February 1, 1976 edition
  8. Official Airline Guide
  9. April 1, 1987 Official Airline Guide
  10. Sept. 15, 1994 OAG Desktop Flight Guide, North American Edition
  11. http://www.departedflights.com, April 24, 1983 SkyWest route map
  12. http://www.departedflights.com, March 1, 1987 Western map
  13. http://www.departedflights.com, Dec. 15, 1989 Official Airline Guide
  14. https://www.transtats.bts.gov/airports.asp?pn=1&Airport=EKO&Airport_Name=Elko, NV: Elko Regional&carrier=FACTS
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