Anderson Regional Airport is a public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

southwest of

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

, in Anderson County,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, United States. It is one of the busiest airports in upstate South Carolina. It receives over 14,000 visitors each year and generates over $13 million annually. Anderson has no airline service or concourses for gates, and no control tower, but in 2007 one runway was extended to handle larger aircraft. In May 2018, airport authorities announced plans for a 6.71 million dollar facelift. The plan includes further improvements of the main runway and building a new ADA-compliant general aviation terminal. Once the new terminal was completed, the old terminal built in 1970 was demolished. From 2009 to 2020, the airport hosted an annual airshow that typically runs Saturday-Sunday and was free to the public. The Anderson Regional Airshow attracted an estimated 50,000 visitors to the airport each year during the two-day event. Anderson Regional Airport covers and has two runways and two helipads: * 5/23: by , asphalt * 17/35: by , asphalt * H1: by , concrete * H2: by , concrete New Prospect Elementary School is across from the airport; the school mascot is the Jets. It is the headquarters of the Anderson County

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded mem ...

History

Anderson County Airport, the first airport in the area, was founded in 1927. It was a grass field that was designated as an emergency landing field; eventually it was used to deliver

air mail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be the ...

. Famous aviator

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

visited the airport on November 14, 1931; she was greeted by over 1,000 residents while she toured the town and met with local civic leaders. The visit was credited with creating enthusiasm for a better airport. Within a year of her visit, civic leaders bought land 3 miles from downtown and plans were made for the new airport. Though Earhart was given credit for inspiring residents to build the new airport, she and her plane disappeared over the South Pacific two months before the airport opened in September 1937. Eastern Airlines

During World War II the airport was an auxiliary airfield for the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, supporting the combat flight training at Greenville Army Airbase. Control of the airport was returned to local authorities in the fall of 1945. The civilian pilot training for the Army Air Force was conducted at the Anderson Airport, and students from Clemson College participated in the flight training program. In the 1950s

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

scheduled three or four daily departures. The airport was one of Eastern's smallest stations and was a stop on a route between Atlanta and Charlotte. Famed

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

and eventual

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Eastern Airlines,

Eddie Rickenbacker Edward Vernon Rickenbacker or Eddie Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient.''Life'' magazine.

Historical airline service

served the airport from 1947 until 1964 as a stop on a route between Atlanta, GA and Greenville/Spartanburg, SC.

Southern Airways Southern Airways was a regional airline (known at the time as a "local-service air carrier" as designated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) in the United States, from its founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979, when it merged with No ...

took over the former Eastern service from 1964 through 1974 flying the same route as Eastern. Bankair provided commuter airline service from 1978 until 1984 with flights to Columbia and Greenville/Spartanburg, SC

Sunbird Airlines Sunbird Airlines was a United States airline founded by Ralph Quinlan in Denver, North Carolina on November 15, 1979. Operating the Cessna 402, and later the Cessna 404 aircraft, the company shared equipment, operations, maintenance and facilities ...

began service in 1985 operating as

Piedmont Commuter CCAir, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCAR) was a regional airline headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States."World Airline Directory". ''Flight International''. March 23, 199968 Retrieved on September 30, 2009. Piedmont Commuter CCAir was created ...

on behalf of

Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlines ...

with flights to Charlotte, NC. In early 1986 Sunbird changed to

CCAir CCAir, Inc. ( NASDAQ: CCAR) was a regional airline headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States."World Airline Directory". ''Flight International''. March 23, 199968 Retrieved on September 30, 2009. Piedmont Commuter CCAir was create ...

and service ended in late 1986. In 1989 Piedmont merged with

USAir US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon b ...

and from 1992 through 1993, CCAir returned to Anderson operating as

USAir Express US Airways Express was the brand name for the regional affiliate of US Airways, under which a number of individually owned commuter air carriers and regional airlines operate short and medium haul routes. This code sharing service was previously ...

, again with commuter flights to Charlotte. The airport has been served briefly by other commuter airlines and air taxi service, including

ImagineAir ImagineAir was an air taxi service headquartered in metro Atlanta, Georgia. With a service area that covered a majority of the southeastern US, the company operated an average of 5000 flights annually. ImagineAir was often noted for its young mana ...

in 2005.

Accidents and incidents

* On June 16, 2012 1:30 p.m. an experimental airplane crashed in some trees near the airport runway. The pilot and sole passenger were not injured. * On April 27, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. a

Cirrus SR22 The Cirrus SR22 is a single-engine four- or five-seat composite aircraft built from 2001 by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota. It is a development of the Cirrus SR20, with a larger wing, higher fuel capacity, and a more powerful, 310-horsepo ...

crashed on approach 600 yards of the runway, killing the pilot and injuring the passenger. * On December 9, 2004 at 10:20 a.m. a

Diamond DA40 The Diamond DA40 Diamond Star is an Austrian four-seat, single-engine, light aircraft constructed from composite materials. Built in both Austria and Canada, it was developed as a four-seat version of the earlier DA20 by Diamond Aircraf ...

en route to Anderson Regional was diverted due to poor visibility. The airport's instrument landing system, which helps pilots land in low visibility, was turned off due to an extension on the main runway. The plane crashed en route to a neighboring airport, killing all three on board.

References

External links

Anderson Regional AirportAnderson Air Show
{{AL Airport, state=collapsed Airports in South Carolina Buildings and structures in Anderson County, South Carolina Transportation in Anderson County, South Carolina 1937 establishments in South Carolina Airports established in 1937

History

Historical airline service

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

External links