The Florida Keys Marathon International 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 ...

located along the Overseas Highway (US1) in

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

, in Monroe County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. The airport covers and has one

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, ...

History

The 8000-foot airstrip in Marathon was built on 280 acres of land that was purchased at $70 an acre from Maitland Adams and Norberg Thompson of Key West. Belcher Oil Company was the prime contractor and constructed the airport for the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The project was started in the fall of 1942 and it was completed in the spring of 1943. The Marathon Airport was constructed during the early days of WWII and was a portion of the U.S. Navy flight programs. Marathon would become a Navy Outlying Field (OLF) and an auxiliary airfield to

Naval Air Station Key West Naval Air Station Key West , is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 NAS Key West is an air ...

(NAS). Used by Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, 26th Antisubmarine Wing. The Army Air Forces turned responsibility for antisubmarine warfare over to the U.S. Navy in 1943. For a time at the beginning of the war, the airstrip property was partly owned by the Florida State Road Department. After the war, Monroe County petitioned this agency to turn it over to the county for a public airport. For most of its existence, the airport has been a general aviation facility although it did have scheduled passenger airline service for over 25 years including regional jet service for a short time in 2007. Regional 44-passenger seat Convair 340 propeller service began in 1959 with

National Airlines (1934-1980) A national airline is a country's flag carrier. The National Airlines name has been used by several United States airlines: * National Airlines (1934–1980), a passenger airline based in Miami, Florida * National Airlines (1977–1986), a cargo ...

serving Marathon on a

flag stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, s ...

basis as part of their Miami - Key West route and these flights marked the first time the airport was directly served by a major U.S. airline. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, commuter air carrier American Air Taxi (AAT Airlines) ran a limited passenger service into Marathon with small

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...

twin prop aircraft. Also during the late 1960s,

Southeast Airlines Southeast Airlines was established in 1993 as Sun Jet International and was founded by Tom Kolfenbach. It was a low fare public charter airline in the United States, headquartered in Largo, Florida, operating regular service to various vacatio ...

was serving the airport with three flights daily to and from Miami as part of a Miami - Marathon - Key West route utilizing two

Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G (la ...

prop aircraft and a

Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the stand ...

turboprop. After the demise of this service, Air Sunshine, an airline founded in Key West, served Marathon with

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper versi ...

aircraft to and from Miami. For a time during the 1970s and early 1980s, Air Florida Commuter provided service to Marathon and Key West via a

code sharing In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

agreement with

Air Florida Air Florida was an American low-cost carrier that operated from 1971 to 1984. In 1975 it was headquartered in the Dadeland Towers in what is now Kendall, Florida in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. Air Florida's IATA code is now used b ...

, followed by

Provincetown-Boston Airlines Provincetown-Boston Airlines was an airline that operated between 1949 and 1989. The airline operated a route network in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and at one time was the largest commuter airline in the United States be ...

(PBA) which primarily used a combination of DC-3 prop and smaller

Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max ...

commuter turboprop aircraft as well as larger 58-passenger seat

NAMC YS-11 The NAMC YS-11 is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (NAMC), a Japanese consortium. It was the only post-war airliner to be wholly designed and manufactured in Japan until the development of ...

turboprops on occasion. Other commuter airlines that served Marathon at various times over the years with prop and/or turboprop aircraft included Air Miami and successor North American Airlines, Air South, Airways International,

Bar Harbor Airlines Bar Harbor Airlines was a United States commuter airline headquartered at Bar Harbor Airport in Trenton, Maine, and later in Houston, Texas. History The company was founded by brothers Thomas and Joseph Caruso, as Bar Harbor Airways. They be ...

operating

service as Eastern Express on behalf of

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 ...

Cape Air Hyannis Air Service Inc., operating as Cape Air, is an airline headquartered at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, Massachusetts, United States. It operates scheduled passenger services in the Northeast, the Caribbean, Midwest, and Easter ...

, Comair flying

service as the

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to oper ...

on behalf of

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along wit ...

, Gulfstream International, Pro Air, Shawnee Airlines and Southern Express. Marathon Airport was served by

American Eagle Airlines Envoy Air Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airline ...

operating

flights with turboprop aircraft on behalf of

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

until 2000. In mid-2006,

announced planned nonstop regional jet service between Atlanta and Marathon to flown by its

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

subsidiary

Atlantic Southeast Airlines Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) was a regional U.S. airline based in the A-Tech Center in College Park, Georgia, flying to 144 destinations as a Delta Connection carrier on behalf of Delta Air Lines via a code sharing agreement and, as of ...

(ASA) on a

basis. Shortly after the Delta announcement,

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...

announced that it would begin services to Marathon via its Florida

partner Gulfstream International. In July 2006, the

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

(TSA) notified airport officials at Marathon Airport that due to a shortage of personnel, the TSA would not be able to staff Marathon Airport with federal security screeners; passengers would have to board and disembark airline aircraft at the general aviation ramp area located on the opposite end of the runway instead of at the airport's passenger terminal. Both Continental and Delta then stated that using this area would be inconvenient to both passengers and airline staff, as it would cause lengthy delays in boarding due to all passengers having to be screened as they enter the aircraft rather than before reaching the gate. Connecting passengers would also have to be rescreened at the intermediate destination before boarding their connecting aircraft, causing further inconveniences in passenger connections. Both airlines also stated that if the airport could not resolve the TSA issue before their announced service start dates, they would withdraw their previously announced scheduled service offers. However, on December 1, 2006, the TSA bowed to the effective lobbying efforts of local government, congressional and business officials when it announced that screeners would be provided at the airport no later than February 15, 2007, even if it meant using a contracto
Official Florida Keys Tourism Council News
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/16703445.htm ]. As a result of the TSA decision, ASA began daily scheduled nonstop flights on behalf of Delta on February 15, 2007 between Atlanta and Marathon which marked the first time the airport had scheduled jet service. In late spring of 2007, Delta ended the regional jet service operated by ASA and instead began regional jet flights operated on a

basis by Freedom Airlines nonstop between Atlanta and Marathon. The reason given for this switch was due to Marathon's published runway length being and that Freedom Airlines'

Embraer ERJ-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

regional jet aircraft had better short field performance when compared with the

Canadair Canadair Ltd. was a civil and military aircraft manufacturer in Canada. In 1986, its assets were acquired by Bombardier Aerospace, the aviation division of Canadian transport conglomerate Bombardier Inc. Canadair's origins lie in the establishm ...

regional jet aircraft operated by ASA . When ASA was serving the airport it used specially configured 40-passenger seat Canadair CRJ-100 regional jets because the performance and takeoff weight of the standard 50-seat CRJ versions would exceed safety margins, given Marathon's comparatively short runway length. In mid-summer of 2007, Delta announced it would end service to Marathon Airport due to low demand.McCarthy, Ryan. "County admits airline service in Marathon unlikely". ''Florida Keys Keynoter'' (Marathon, Florida). July 21, 2012. On October 4, 2008, Continental Airlines announced it would begin commercial service to Marathon Airport via a

codeshare to

Southwest Florida International Airport Southwest Florida International Airport is a major county-owned airport in the South Fort Myers area of unincorporated Lee County, Florida, United States. The airport serves the Southwest Florida region, including the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, ...

Fort Myers Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 202 ...

, with TSA security clearance to occur once on the ground in Fort Myers, if connecting to another flight. Service began on December 19, 2008, but ended the following year. Also in 2008, Marathon Airport was featured in ''

Army of Two ''Army of Two'' is a third-person shooter video game series developed by EA Montreal. The first game in the series, '' Army of Two'', was released on March 6, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. Focusing on cooperative strategies, ...

'', an action video game by

EA Montreal EA Montreal is a Canadian video game development studio owned and operated by Electronic Arts. The studio is based in Montreal, Quebec. It was inaugurated by EA on March 17, 2004. The studio was founded by Alain Tascan a former Ubisoft and BAM ...

. On April 20, 2016, for the first time in approximately three decades, U.S. Customs and Immigration service became available at the Florida Keys Marathon International Airport. The inauguration of a new 4,200-sq-ft permanent Customs and Border Patrol facility located in the former commercial terminal. Located midfield on Taxiway Alpha, U.S. Customs is regularly available from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday though Sunday, with after-hours callout service available with 24 hours' notice. The cost for the $1.6 million facility was split equally between the Florida Department of Transportation and the Monroe County Airport Authority. Marathon FBO

Airlines and destinations

The airport currently does not have any scheduled passenger airline flights but does have charter air service.

Charter flights and management

Air Key West
* Duck Key Charters * Monarch Air Group

Historical airline service to Miami: 1975 to 1999

According to the

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, flight sta ...

( OAG), the following airlines operated scheduled passenger service nonstop to

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most c ...

(MIA) at various times from 1975 to 1999 utilizing prop and/or turboprop regional and commuter aircraft: April 1975 * Air Sunshine operating

aircraft with one daily flight *

operating

aircraft with one daily flight November 1979 * Air Florida Commuter operating

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

aircraft with up to three flights a day ''(

service operated on behalf of

)'' April 1981 * Air Florida Commuter operating

and CASA 212 aircraft with four daily flights ''(

service operated on behalf of

)'' *

(PBA) operating

and

aircraft with six daily flights February 1985 *

(PBA) operating

and

aircraft with six daily flights * Southern Express operating

Piper Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Tar ...

aircraft with up to five flights a day December 1989 * Airways International operating

Cessna 402 The Cessna 401 and 402 are a series of 6 to 10 seat, light twin-piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplane ...

aircraft with four daily flights *

operating

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

BAe Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...

aircraft with five daily flights ''(

service operated on behalf of

)'' * Eastern Express service flown by

operating

Beechcraft 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...

aircraft with up to six flights a day ''(

service operated on behalf'' ''of'' ''

)'' April 1995 *

operating

Short 360 The Short 360 (also SD3-60; also Shorts 360)Mondey, David. ''Encyclopedia of the World's Commercial and Private Aircraft''. New York: Crescent Books, 1981. , p. 228. is a commuter aircraft that was built by UK manufacturer Short Brothers during ...

aircraft with five daily flights ''(

service operated on behalf of

)'' * Gulfstream International operating

and

aircraft with up to four flights a day June 1999 *

operating

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different op ...

aircraft with one daily flight ''(

service operated on behalf of

)'' Besides service to Miami, the airport also had nonstop flights to other destinations in Florida during the late 1980s including Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. In December 1989, the OAG listed three daily flights to Fort Lauderdale operated by Comair flying

service as the

with

aircraft on behalf of

as well as up to six flights a day also to Fort Lauderdale operated by Air Sunshine with

aircraft. In addition, Comair flying as the Delta Connection was operating one nonstop Embraer EMB-110 flight on weekdays to Orlando at this same time. However, these flights to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando proved to be short-lived as subsequent OAG editions do not list any nonstop service between Marathon and these cities. By 1995,

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 o ...

was operating nonstop flights between the airport and Tampa twice daily with

Beechcraft 1900C The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With ...

commuter turboprops on a

basis on behalf of

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 ...

.http://www.departedflights.com, April 2, 1995 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Tampa flight schedules

References

Sources

* 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.
Airport Master Record (FAA Form 5010)
, also available as
printable form
(

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems ...

)
Florida Keys Marathon Airport
(page at Monroe County tourism site)

External links

Florida Keys Marathon Airport: Frequently Asked Questions
{{Florida airports M Flight Strips of the United States Army Air Forces Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Florida Marathon, Florida 1940s establishments in Florida