Leesburg International Airport , formerly known as Leesburg 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 ...
located three miles (5 km) northeast of the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
of
Leesburg, a city in
Lake 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 ...
,
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 territorie ...
. It is owned by the City of Leesburg.
Facilities and Aircraft
Leesburg International Airport covers an area of which contains two
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 ...
paved
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, as ...
s: 3/21 measuring 4,957 x 100 ft (1,511 x 30 m) and 13/31 measuring 6,300 x 100 ft (1,920 x 30 m).
The airport has been designated as a "User Fee" airport by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security. Offering U.S. Customs and Border Protection service, Leesburg International Airport can serve as the first port of entry for aircraft returning to the continental United States from a foreign country.
Leesburg International Airport has an Airport Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) Station that is staffed 7 days per week, 24 hours per day (24/7) with professionally trained and equipped firefighting personnel.
The Air Traffic Control Tower is open 7 days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (0700 to 1900 local) with the Tower Frequency (and
CTAF
Common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) is the name given to the VHF radio frequency used for air-to-air communication at United States, Canadian and Australian non-towered airports.
Many towered airports close their towers overnight, keeping ...
when the tower is closed) being 119.35 and Ground Control being 121.725.
For the 12-month period ending May 18, 1999, the airport had 114,061 aircraft operations, an average of 312 per day: 99.8%
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 ...
and 0.2% military. There are 186 aircraft based at this airport: 67% single-engine, 23% multi-engine, 5%
ultralight
Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...
, 3% jet and 3%
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
.
History
The airport was constructed in 1942 and was commissioned in January 1943 as Leesburg Army Airfield (AAF). It was used as a
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 ...
training airfield by the
Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics at
Orlando Army Air Base
Orlando Executive Airport is a public airport three miles (6 km) east of downtown Orlando, in Orange County, Florida. It is owned and operated by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) and serves general aviation.
Overview
Orlando ...
.
The airfield was closed after the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and turned over to the City of Leesburg.
References
External links
Leesburg International Airport official site
* brochure fro
CFASPP*
*
{{Florida airports
Airports in Florida
Transportation buildings and structures in Lake County, Florida
Leesburg, Florida
1943 establishments in Florida