Tallahassee International Airport

Tallahassee International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCity of Tallahassee
ServesTallahassee metropolitan area
LocationTallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Elevation AMSL81 ft / 25 m
Coordinates30°23′48″N 084°21′01″W / 30.39667°N 84.35028°W / 30.39667; -84.35028
Websiteflytallahassee.com
Maps
FAA airport diagram
FAA airport diagram
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
09/27 8,000 2,438 Asphalt
18/36 7,000 2,134 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Aircraft operations76,073
Based aircraft207
Total passengers858,280
Air Florida DC-9 parked at Tallahassee Airport

Tallahassee International Airport (IATA: TLH, ICAO: KTLH, FAA LID: TLH) is a city-owned airport five miles southwest of downtown Tallahassee, in Leon County, Florida, United States. It serves the state capital of Florida, and its surrounding areas; it is one of the major airports in north Florida, the others being Pensacola, Destin–Fort Walton Beach, Northwest Florida Beaches, and Jacksonville. Despite its name, it does not service any international destinations.[3]

History

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Mayor Joe Cordell and the City Commission at the new Tallahassee Municipal Airport on March 28, 1961

The airport began as Tallahassee Municipal Airport with a ceremony on April 23, 1961. The flag of the United States was presented to the City of Tallahassee by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I fighter ace and Chairman of the Board of Eastern Airlines. An aerial demonstration was performed by U.S. Army aircraft from Fort Rucker, Alabama. Tallahassee Municipal replaced the city's first airport, Dale Mabry Field, which closed that year.

Eastern Airlines opened the airport by ferrying city, state and chamber of commerce officials. Aboard the flight were Tallahassee Mayor Joe Cordell, State Comptroller Ray Green, Tallahassee City Commissioners Davis Atkinson, George Taff, Hugh Williams, Tallahassee City Manager Arvah Hopkins, Tallahassee City Clerk-Auditor George White, Airport Manager Flagg Chittenden, and Ernest Menendez, Frank Deller, James Calhoun, John Ward and Jeff Lewis, all of the Tallahassee-Leon County Chamber of Commerce.

In June 1961, less than two months after it opened, the airport was the site of Freedom Rider protests. The airport restaurant, Savarin, was designated "Whites Only", and closed rather than serve a racially-mixed group of clergy and activists.[4] The protestors were arrested and removed, and later served prison sentences after the Supreme Court rejected their case in Dresner vs City of Tallahassee on a technicality.[5]

From the airport's opening until the early 1980s, the airport's primary runway was Runway 18/36, a 6,076-foot runway with an ILS approach, enabling all-weather approaches, and a USAF certified High TACAN approach for practice by Air Force aircraft based at Tyndall AFB, near Panama City. Runway 09/27 was 4,000 feet long and supported general aviation operations. By the 1970s, the airport had scheduled flights on Eastern Airlines, Delta Air Lines, National Airlines and Southern Airways, mainly on Boeing 727s, Boeing 737s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9s.

By the 1980s the terminal was becoming obsolete, and the 6,100 foot runway was too short for the Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 coming into service. Runway 09/27 was converted to a taxiway and a new Runway 09/27, 8,003 feet long with ILS, was built just to the south. A new passenger terminal was built just north of the new runway. Ground was broke on November 2, 1987 and the new terminal prompted officials to rename the airport from Tallahassee Municipal Airport to Tallahassee Regional Airport. On December 3, 1989, the city opened the $33 million terminal, and on February 20, 2000, the terminal was renamed the Ivan Munroe Terminal in honor of Tallahassee aviation pioneer Ivan Munroe. Munroe was the first man in Tallahassee to own a plane.

On July 20, 2002, FedEx Express Flight 1478 crashed a half mile short of the Runway 9 while attempting to land. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the crash was due to a combination of pilot fatigue and pilot error. All three crewmembers survived.[6]

On June 26, 2015, Tallahassee Regional Airport was renamed Tallahassee International Airport. On June 29, 2015 the City of Tallahassee and the FAA announced the name change. International passengers are allowed to exit the airport via Tallahassee International Airport due to the facility's full-service "service port" for U.S. Customs.[7] The change allows international cargo and general aviation flights to directly come to Tallahassee, which is the leading cargo handler in the Panhandle area of Florida. Tallahassee handles 9.5 million pounds of cargo a year, more than the next city, Pensacola, which handles around 6.8 million pounds.[8]

On January 27, 2021, the airport was struck by an EF1 tornado, causing minor damage and temporary closure to assess the damage. A small plane was flipped and minor damage was done to a hangar. No injuries were reported. [9]

Facilities

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The airport covers 2,485 acres (1,006 ha) at an elevation of 81 feet (25 m). It has two runways: 09/27 is 8,000 by 150 feet (2,438 by 46 m) and 18/36 is 7,000 by 150 ft. (2,134 by 46 m).[1][10] Helicopter operations are generally confined to the Runway 18/36 area, or direct approaches to the Million Air FBO ramp area.

The Million Air FBO at the airport provides contracted fuel services to U.S. Military and Department of Defense aircraft.[11] TLH is regularly visited by U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft, Lockheed Martin C-130 family aircraft, as well as Dornier C-146 and T-6 Texan II aircraft on training missions and practice approaches.

The terminal building is divided into two concourses, A & B. All gates except for Gates A2 & A4 are located on the main level of the terminal, and are equipped with jet bridges, while Gates A2 & A4 are located on the lower level.

Gate assignments:

  • A1: American/JetBlue
  • A3, A5, A6: American
  • A4, A7: Silver
  • B1, B3: Delta
  • B5, B6: under construction

Airlines and destinations

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Passenger

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AirlinesDestinations
American Eagle Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, Washington–National
Delta Air Lines Atlanta
Delta Connection Atlanta
Silver Airways Fort Lauderdale, Tampa

Destinations map

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Destinations map
class=notpageimage|
Destinations from Tallahassee International Airport
Red = Year-round destination
Green = Seasonal destination
Blue = Future destination

Cargo

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AirlinesDestinations
FedEx Express Memphis
FedEx Feeder Memphis, Orlando
Quest Diagnostics Aviation Tampa

Statistics

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In the year ending April 30, 2023, the airport had 74,363 aircraft operations, average 204 per day: 57% general aviation, 10% air taxi, 21% military and 13% airline. 207 aircraft were then based at this airport: 178 single-engine, 7 multi-engine, 8 jet and 14 helicopter.[1]

Top destinations

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Busiest domestic routes from TLH (February 2023 - January 2024)[12]
Rank Airport Passengers Carriers
1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta, Georgia 180,300 Delta
2 North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina 74,090 American
3 Florida Miami, Florida 59,760 American
4 Texas Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 58,830 American
5 Washington, D.C. Washington–National, D.C. 19,360 American
6 Florida Fort Lauderdale, Florida 16,780 Jetblue, Silver
7 Florida Tampa, Florida 5,660 Silver

Airline market share

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Top airlines at TLH
(February 2024)[13]
Rank Airline Passengers Percent of market share
1 American Airlines 18,058 50.75%
2 Delta Air Lines 13,127 36.90%
3 JetBlue Airways 3,212 9.03%
4 Silver Airways 1,181 3.32%

Incidents

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  • On October 20, 1956, a Lockheed 18-50 Lodestar (N33368) of National Airlines landed too far down the runway while it was wet, ground-looped, and went through a ditch into some trees. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.[14]
  • On July 26, 2002, a Boeing 727-232F (N497FE) operating as FedEx Express Flight 1478 from Memphis was landing when the plane struck trees 3,650 feet short of the runway and hit the ground 1,000 feet later, slid an additional 1,100 feet through an open field, and came to rest 1,000 feet from the runway after hitting construction vehicles and burned out. The crash was found to be caused by crew fatigue; none of the three on board were killed.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c FAA Airport Form 5010 for TLH PDF, effective January 25, 2024
  2. ^ "Monthly Activity Report". "Traffic History Report". Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  3. ^ "Tallahassee's airport goes international". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  4. ^ "Freedom Ride Stops in Tallahassee". Florida Historical Society. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Dresner v. City of Tallahassee, 375 U.S. 136, 11L ed 2d 208, 84 S.CT. 235 (1963)". 1963. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  6. ^ Fatigued pilots' errors blamed in FedEx crash, St Pete Times, June 9, 2004.
  7. ^ "Florida Airports with U.S. Customs". usatoday.com, World News. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Tallahassee Airport Soars to New Heights". Talgov.com, the Official Website of the City of Tallahassee. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Tornado touches down in Florida near Tallahassee airport; thousands without power". usatoday.com, News. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  10. ^ "TLH airport data at skyvector.com". skyvector.com. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  11. ^ "AirNav: Million Air Tallahassee at Tallahassee International Airport". www.airnav.com.
  12. ^ "Tallahassee: Tallahassee International (TLH)". Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
  13. ^ "Tallahassee International Airport Monthly Activity Report - February 2024" (PDF). Tallahassee International Airport. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  14. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed 18-50 Lodestar N33368 Tallahassee Municipal Airport, FL (TLH)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  15. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-232F N497FE Tallahassee Municipal Airport, FL (TLH)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
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