Annette Island Airport is located on

Annette Island Annette Island or ''Taak'w Aan'' (Tlingit) is an island in the Gravina Islands of the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean on the southeastern coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is at . It is about long and about wide. The land are ...

in the Prince of Wales – Hyder Census Area of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sov ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The airport is privately owned by the Metlakatla Indian Community. It is located south of

Metlakatla, Alaska Metlakatla (; Tsimshian: ''Maxłakxaała'' or ''Wil uks t’aa mediik''; Lingít: ''Tàakw.àani'') is a census-designated place (CDP) on Annette Island in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the popul ...

. The airport was established as the Annette Island Army Airfield during World War II and initially served as a military airbase.

Facilities and aircraft

Annette Island Airport has two

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, ...

s: 12/30 is 7,493 by 150 feet (2,284 x 46 m) with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

surface and 2/20 is 5,709 by 150 feet (1,740 x 46 m) with a

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

surface. For the 12-month period ending January 16, 1990, the airport had 8,400 aircraft operations, an average of 23 per day: 64%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, 24%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...

, and 12%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

Historical airline service

Prior to the opening of the

Ketchikan International Airport Ketchikan International Airport is a state-owned, public-use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) west of the central business district of Ketchikan, a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough in Alaska, U.S. state that has no direct road ...

(KTN) in 1973, the Annette Island Airport served as the primary airfield for scheduled passenger service for

Ketchikan Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District. With a population at the 20 ...

which is located approximately 20 air miles to the north. In 1947,

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...

was operating daily nonstop service to Seattle and Juneau with

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 19 ...

prop aircraft with no change of plane flights operated twice a week to Whitehorse in the

Yukon Territory Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

of Canada via Juneau and then continuing on to Fairbanks, Galena and Nome in Alaska. Pan Am later operated

Douglas DC-6B The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...

and

Boeing 377 Stratocruiser The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a large long-range airliner developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, itself a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. The Stratocruiser's first flight was on July 8, 1947. Its design was advance ...

aircraft into the airport. During the late 1950s,

Pacific Northern Airlines Western Airlines was a major airline based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and ...

served the airport with

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its pres ...

propliners with nonstop service to Seattle and Juneau as well as direct, no change of plane flights to Anchorage, Cordova and Yakutat. The airport's first jet service arrived during the early 1960s. In 1963,

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

was flying

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first ...

jetliners into the airport with a daily roundtrip routing of Seattle - Annette Island - Juneau. By 1965, Pacific Northern was operating

Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate was i ...

jetliners on nonstop flights to Seattle and Juneau as well as on direct services to Anchorage via Juneau. In 1967, Pacific Northern was acquired by and merged into

Western Airlines Western Airlines was a major airline based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and ...

which continued to operate jet service into the airport. By 1968, Western was serving the airport with

Boeing 720B The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate was ...

jetliners with nonstop service to Seattle and Juneau as well as direct, no change of plane flights to Portland, OR, San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1971, the federal

Civil Aeronautics Board The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1938 and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services including scheduled passenger airline serviceStringer, David H."Non-Skeds: T ...

(CAB) awarded

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest airline in North America when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and the num ...

new route authority which enabled this air carrier to begin jet service into Annette Island Airport thus replacing Western. With the opening of the Ketchikan International Airport in 1973, Annette Island lost all scheduled passenger jet flights as such airline service then moved to the then-new Ketchikan airport. Prior to the opening of the Ketchikan airport in 1973,

was also operating scheduled flights with Super

Catalina Catalina may refer to: Arts and media * '' The Catalina'', a 2012 American reality television show * ''Catalina'' (novel), a 1948 novel by W. Somerset Maugham * Catalina (''My Name Is Earl''), character from the NBC sitcom ''My Name Is Earl'' ...

and

Grumman Goose The Grumman G-21 Goose is an amphibious flying boat designed by Grumman to serve as an eight-seat "commuter" aircraft for businessmen in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman's first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engined aircraft, and ...

prop-driven

amphibian aircraft An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes (flying boats ...

on the short hop between Annette Island Airport and the

Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base is a privately owned, public use seaplane base located at the harbor of Ketchikan, a city in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located near the Ketchikan International Airport, which a ...

serving Ketchikan as well as to other local destinations in southeast Alaska.http://www.timetableimages.com, June 1, 1969 & Sept. 14, 1970 Alaska Airlines system timetables

References

External links

{{Airports in Alaska 1941 establishments in Alaska Airports in the Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area, Alaska Native American airports