McClellan–Palomar Airport (Palomar 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 ...

three miles (5 km) southeast of Carlsbad in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is owned by the County of San Diego. The airport is used for both

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

commercial aviation Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation. Definition Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...

. As of March 2013, the airport was the fourth-busiest single runway airport in the United States. Most U.S. airports use the same three-letter

location identifier A location identifier is a symbolic representation for the name and the location of an airport, navigation aid, or weather station, and is used for staffed air traffic control facilities in air traffic control, telecommunications, computer programm ...

for the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

and

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

, but McClellan–Palomar Airport is CRQ to the FAA and CLD to the IATA. The

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

identifier is KCRQ. The airport is named for Gerald McClellan, an

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

and civic leader in San Diego's North County area. The airport was the basis of part of the name of the TV production company

Lorimar Television Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisio ...

Facilities

McClellan–Palomar Airport covers and has one

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 ...

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 ...

, 6/24, . The airport also has one asphalt

helipad A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard s ...

that is 100 by 100 feet (30 x 30 m). In 2017, the airport had 160,887 aircraft operations, an average of 441 per day: 95%

, 4%

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) an ...

, >1% scheduled commercial, and >1% military. 288 aircraft are based at this airport: 59% single-engine, 21% jet, 12% multi-engine, and 5%

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 ...

. It opened a $24-million terminal on January 29, 2009. As of October 26, 2010, Palomar Airport's long-term parking rates (30 day maximum) increased from $3 to $5 per day.

Airlines and destinations

In early 2020,

Taos Air Taos Air is a Virtual airline (economics), virtual airline that operates seasonal scheduled public air charter service between Taos Regional Airport in Taos, New Mexico and several airports in California and Texas. The airline is owned by Taos Ski ...

inaugurated seasonal skiing-oriented flights between McClellan–Palomar and Taos Regional Airport in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. Advanced Air announced new seasonal service to Mammoth Lakes on the

Dornier 328JET The Fairchild-Dornier 328JET is a Regional jet, commuter airliner, based upon the turboprop-powered Dornier 328, developed by the German aircraft manufacturer Dornier Flugzeugwerke, Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH. It would be the last Dornier-designed ...

and, occasionally, the

King Air 350 The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The Model 200 and Model 300 series were originally marketed as the "Super King Air" family; the "Super" designation was dropped in 1996. ...

Surf Air Surf Air is a Los Angeles–based aviation marketplace that offers members access to private charter flights for a fixed monthly fee. Service areas As of March 2019, the company serves five California airports: Hawthorne (HHR), Oakland (OAK), San ...

is a private

air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...

company that offers flights between McClellan–Palomar, selected California cities, and Las Vegas. The company began its first flights in 2013 and expanded to San Diego by late 2014, operating from the Atlantic Aviation FBO.

Clay Lacy Aviation Clay Lacy Aviation is a business aviation company founded at Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) in 1968 by Clay Lacy. Clay Lacy Aviation provides aircraft management, private air charter, aircraft maintenance, fixed-base operator (FBO) and other services to ...

also operates at McClellan–Palomar Airport, providing aircraft management services, charters using the company's fleet of

business jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pub ...

s, and full-service aircraft maintenance.

Past airline service

The airport was previously served by

United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

with flights operated by

SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah, United States. SkyWest is paid to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. The ...

. In May 2015, United Express ended service to the airport due to the phaseout of their

Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series of ...

turboprop aircraft as SkyWest then transitioned to an all regional jet fleet with these aircraft requiring a runway longer than the airport's runway length. Other airline service into the airport in the past included

American Eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

operated by

Wings West Airlines Wings West Airlines was an American regional airline headquartered at McChesney Field (SBP), unincorporated San Luis Obispo County, California. The airline initially began scheduled passenger service as an independent commuter air carrier and t ...

and

operated by WestAir Airlines with both commuter air carriers flying to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

(

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

) as well as

America West Express America West Express was the brand name for America West Airlines commuter and regional flights operated by Mesa Air Group's Mesa Airlines under a code share agreement. Today Mesa Airlines operates for American Eagle. Mesa Airlines operated Ameri ...

(later

US Airways 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 ...

) operating nonstop to Phoenix–Sky Harbor. In 1977,

Scenic Airlines Scenic may refer to: * Scenic design * Scenic painting * Scenic overlook * Scenic railroad (disambiguation) * Scenic route * Scenic, South Dakota, United States * Scenic (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse Aviation *Airwave Scenic, an Austrian p ...

was flying

Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...

propjets nonstop to Palm Springs with direct one stop service to both Las Vegas and Phoenix. In 1995, American Eagle and United Express were operating a combined total of twelve nonstop services a day to LAX with both airlines flying

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 ...

commuter propjets on the route. In 1999,

Mesa Airlines Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Gr ...

was operating the America West Express nonstop service to Phoenix with three flights a day with

de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

turboprops.

Imperial Airlines Imperial Airlines was a United States commuter airline that operated from 1964 to 1986. Imperial served a number of cities in Southern California and for a brief period several cities in Arizona. History Imperial was founded as Visco Flying Se ...

also served McClellan-Palomar and was based at the airport during the 1980s. Air Resorts operated flights from the airport as well during the 1980s.

Golden West Airlines Golden West Airlines was a commuter airline that operated flights on a high volume schedule in California. It ceased operations in 1983. History The original Golden West Airlines, headquartered at Van Nuys, California, was founded in 1968 ...

also operated service during the 1970s from the airport with

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 ...

commuter aircraft. All of the airlines that previously served Carlsbad operated either turboprop or prop aircraft on their services into the airport. BizAir Shuttle, a public charter airline with flights operated by

Ultimate Air Shuttle Ultimate Air Shuttle is an airline based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the operating name of Ultimate Jetcharters LLC, an FAR Part 135 air charter carrier. Ultimate Air Shuttle previously operated public charter flights on a published schedule, serv ...

utilizing

aircraft, briefly operated scheduled service from McClellan–Palomar to

and

McCarran International Airport Harry Reid International Airport is an international airport in Paradise, Nevada, and is the main government airport for public use in the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada, about south of Downtown Las Vegas. ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

during the summer of 2015. JetsuiteX announced charter flight services to Burbank and San Jose starting October 17, 2016. However; due to low customer demand, the scheduled services to and from Carlsbad airport were canceled. On August 16, 2017, the airport announced new commercial jet service from Cal Jet by

Elite Airways Elite Airways is an airline based in the United States operating charter and scheduled passenger flights. The airline adjusts destinations as demand increases or decreases. The airline is headquartered in Portland, Maine. History Elite Airways ...

, which planned to operate daily commercial flights to Las Vegas starting September 28, 2017. County officials said Cal Jet planned on operating a

Bombardier CRJ700 The Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier (formerly Canadair) between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from ...

with 63 Seats, becoming the first commercial service at the airport since 2015. Cal Jet will operate out of the main commercial terminal, with the hope of adding other cities such as San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento, and Phoenix in the near future. As of August 2017, tickets were on sale, with fares starting at $69 one-way. Cal Jet abruptly ended service in April 2018. The airport was the headquarters for

California Pacific Airlines California Pacific Airlines (a.k.a. CP Air) San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, and

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, to be followed by service to

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

beginning November 15, 2018. This service was reduced from an initial plan to serve six destinations including

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

;

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

; and

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Cabo San Lucas (, "Saint Luke Cape"), or simply just Cabo, is a resort city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. As at the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 202,694 inhabitan ...

. California Pacific Airlines ceased operations as of January 16, 2019. In January 2020, owner Ted Vallas stated that California Pacific Airlines planned to resume service in the future, but ultimately the airline's operating certificate was revoked in October 2020. Owner Ted Vallas died in November of that year.

Accidents and incidents

*On January 24, 2006, a

Cessna Citation V The Cessna Citation V is a business jet built by Cessna. A stretched version of the Citation S/II, a Model 560 prototype flew in August 1987, it was certified on December 9, 1988, and delivered from April 1989; were delivered until 2011. The ...

landing on runway 24 on a flight from

Friedman Memorial Airport Friedman Memorial Airport is a city-owned public-use airport in the northwest United States, located one nautical mile (2 km) southeast of the central business district of Hailey, the county seat of Blaine County, Idaho. The airport is ope ...

Hailey, Idaho Hailey is a city in and the county seat of Blaine County, in the Wood River Valley of the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho. The population was 7,960 at the 2010 census, up from 6,200 in 2000. *On April 29, 2007, a

Cessna 182 Skylane The Cessna 182 Skylane is an American four-seat, single-engined light airplane built by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. It has the option of adding two child seats in the baggage area. Introduced in 1956, the 182 has been produced in a ...

carrying three people crashed about offshore shortly after

takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a t ...

at 9:30 a.m. * On July 3, 2007, a Beechcraft 90 King Air carrying two people crashed after taking off shortly after 6 a.m. in dense fog. The aircraft hit power lines, which caused power outages for local residents and businesses. The two on board died. * On September 22, 2008, a

Cessna 152 The Cessna 152 is an American two-seat, fixed- tricycle-gear, general aviation airplane, used primarily for flight training and personal use. It was based on the earlier Cessna 150 incorporating a number of minor design changes and a slightly ...

crashed just west of College Boulevard on the extended centerline after departing runway 24. The aircraft had two on board, who were both injured and evacuated by air. * On September 28, 2008, a

Beechcraft Bonanza The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. The six-seater, single-engined aircraft is still being produced by Beechcraft and has been in continuous prod ...

crashed southeast of the airport after the pilot aborted a landing attempt in fog. The pilot was alone and was killed. * On November 18, 2015, a

Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil The Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil (or Squirrel), now Airbus Helicopters H125, is a single-engine light utility helicopter originally designed and manufactured in France by Aérospatiale and Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters). In North Americ ...

helicopter crashed at the airport, killing two people. * On July 16, 2022, a Socata TB-21 on approach to the airport made a

forced landing A forced landing is a landing by an aircraft made under factors outside the pilot's control, such as the failure of engines, systems, components, or weather which makes continued flight impossible. For a full description of these, see article on ' ...

on a nearby street, striking a car and causing minor injuries to two in the car and two in the aircraft. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

References

External links

Airport websitePalomar–McClellan Airport renovations
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcclellan-Palomar Airport Airports in San Diego County, California Carlsbad, California