Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport is located within three jurisdictions:
Sarasota County
Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL m ...
, the city limits of
Sarasota
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...
and
Manatee County
Manatee County is a county in the Central Florida portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county s ...
, in the
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 ...
' state of
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 ...
.
Owned by the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority, it is north of Downtown Sarasota
and south of
Bradenton
Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698.
History
Late 18th and early 19th centuries
A settlement established by Maroons or escaped sl ...
.
The
National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...
for 2017–2021
called it a "small hub" airport since it enplanes 0.05 percent to 0.25 percent of total U.S. passenger enplanements.
History
Origins
Before the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport was built, both Sarasota and Bradenton had their own airfields: Bradenton's Bradenton Airport and Sarasota's
Lowe Field. Bradenton Airport was established somewhere between 1935 and 1937 being abandoned at an unknown point during World War 2. Lowe Field would be dedicated on January 12, 1929
and would end up opening on March 12. It would be Sarasota's first municipal airport located on of land west of what was then Oriente Avenue which is now known as Beneva Road and north of Fruitville Road. National Airlines would begin flying out of the airfield on August 4, 1937.
Flights were often cancelled because the landing strip got too wet to land on which led to National Airlines leaving later that year after Sarasota could not pay for building concrete runways. During World War II, Lowe Field would be used by the Civil Air Patrol. After the war ended most civilian operations at Lowe Field ended up going to the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport however it would be used by student pilots, mosquito control programs and crop dusters. The airport would end up operating until 1961 when the owner sold the land.
The airport was considered a replacement to Lowe Field's poor conditions and low capacity. Construction on the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport started in 1939 and opened the following year with
CCC
CCC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canada's Capital Cappies, the Critics and Awards Program in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
* ''Capcom Classics Collection'', a 2005 compilation of arcade games for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox
* CCC, the pro ...
and
WPA
WPA may refer to:
Computing
*Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard
*Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing
* Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada
* Windows Performance An ...
assistance at a cost of $1 million. In May 1941, the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority was created.
Name origins
In the 1940s, SRQ was known by its two-character designation, RS. By 1948, growth in aviation demand prompted
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 ...
to coordinate the assignment of three-character codes. The airport initially received the designation "SSO", a short-lived code subject to misinterpretation as the international distress signal,
SOS
is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, that was originally established for maritime use. In formal notation is written with an overscore line, to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" ...
. SRQ was chosen, with "Q" serving as filler text. The airport's IATA airport code, "SRQ", is used as a general nickname for the city of Sarasota and Sarasota area, as exemplified by media outlets like SRQ Magazine,
WSRQ radio, and numerous local businesses in the area that include SRQ in their names.
World War II
In 1942, with the United States entering
World War 2
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 opposing ...
, the airport was leased to the
Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps:
* Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army
* Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941)
* United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...
and became known as the Sarasota Army Airfield. The Army Air Corps later added 250 acres making the airport 870 acres. The
97th Bombardment Group was the first group, being transferred from
MacDill Air Force Base
MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...
in Tampa for training with
B-17 Flying Fortresses
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...
staying from March to May. The 97th as well did construction and maintenance, including the construction of barracks and runway repair.
After the 97th left, the
92nd Operations Group
The 92d Operations Group (92 OG) is the flying component of the 92d Air Refueling Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command Eighteenth Air Force. The group is stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington.
During Wo ...
arrived for training and did construction work also.
In June the base was designated as a sub base changing its focus from bombers to fighters because the runways could not withstand the bomber's weight. The
69th Fighter Squadron
The 69th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve fighter squadron. It is assigned to the 944th Operations Group, stationed at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.
The 69th Fighter Squadron replaced the 301st Fighter Squadron in 2010. ...
transferred to the airfield from Drew Army Airfield to train with
P-39 Airacobras. Sarasota had sub bases in:
Bartow,
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
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 20 ...
, and
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
, while
Immokalee
(your home)
, nickname =
, settlement_type = Census-designated place
, motto =
, image_skyline = File:Immokalee-Zocalo Plaza 2018.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption ...
,
Lake Wales
Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida. The population was 14,225 at the 2010 census. , the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 16,759. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lake Wales is ...
,
Punta Gorda and
Winter Haven served as auxiliary fields for the base. Training was conducted as well on the base, with 70 pilots graduating on average every 30 days.
On July 25, 1945, a Douglas TC-47B that left out of Sarasota to
Lake Charles on a navigation training session crashed after going through a thunderstorm north of Tampa. All 13 crew members died onboard. The aircraft crashed roughly 20 miles northeast of Tampa.
After 3 years of use, the base officially closed and was transferred to civilian usage in 1947. Despite its transfer, the airport and its facilities deteriorated until the Florida Legislature passed the 1955 Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority Act. This act gave the airport more legal power and guidelines to operate.
Post–World War II expansion
National Airlines was SRQ's first airline, moving from Lowe's Field by 1947. Cancer research institute;
Jackson Memorial Laboratories considered establishing a laboratory on airport property. The extent of the plan is not known.
By April 1957, OAG showed six NA departures a day. Construction started on a terminal building designed by
Paul Rudolph and locally known architect,
John Cromwell on August 18, 1958 and opening on May 2 the next year. with: a control tower, ticketing area, offices, gift shop, coffee shop, and a balcony for passengers to watch their planes arrive. In its opening year of 1959, the airport had roughly 22,000 annual passengers.
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
arrived in January 1961, along with an
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 ...
service as well. The airport's first jet flights were Eastern 727s in winter 1964–65 (though the longest runway was 5006 ft for a few years after that). By the 1960s the airport along with Eastern and National Airlines, welcomed two commuter airlines:
Executive
Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to:
Role or title
* Executive, a senior management role in an organization
** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators
** Executive dire ...
in 1964 and
Florida Air in 1968. Executive established Sarasota as a maintenance base and later their headquarters from 1968 to 1971 and flew flights to Tampa and Fort Myers.
1970s
By 1970, the airport had five commercial airlines: Eastern, National, Executive, Florida, and for a brief period,
Mackey. Despite its continued growth through the 1970s, many airlines services were intermittent. Mackey and Florida both left in early 1970. Florida returned four years later and simultaneously established Sarasota as its headquarters. When Executive Airlines went bankrupt in 1971, it was replaced by
Shawnee Airlines for a year and later returned in 1977.
On March 30, 1974, an armed man would attempt to hijack a Boeing 727 from National Airlines. He would bring two hostages with him and demand that he be flown out of the area. He would be unsuccessful as a maintenance worker onboard disarmed him. He ended up being captured about 4 hours afterwards receiving two concurrent sentences with one lasting for 15 years and another for 25. A commuter airline named
Sun Airlines had flights to several destinations from mid-1974 to mid-1975. The latter part of the decade introduced
North Central Airlines
North Central Airlines was a regional airline in the Midwestern United States. Founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, the company moved to Madison in 1947. This is also when the "Herman the duck" logo was bor ...
in 1978, and
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also re ...
the following year.
The Airport Authority would also change during the 1970s as well. In 1970, voters in Manatee and Sarasota counties decided that the authority should be elected instead of appointed, and state legislation was passed affirming this in 1972.
1976 presidential election
During the 1976 presidential election, several candidates would visit and/or fly into the airport. On February 23, 1976,
Gerald R. Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
and his family flew into the airport on
Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...
while visiting Sarasota on a trip across Florida. He briefly took questions from the press before leaving to go to a hotel. The following day he went to a church service and a barbecue. He gave a brief press conference before flying out of the airport to Tampa. Next month, on March 2,
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
would hold a press conference at the airport before speaking to the public at adjacent
New College. Likely that same day,
Henry "Scoop" Jackson
Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. representative (1941–1953) and U.S. senator (1953–1983) from the state of Washington. A Cold War liberal and anti- ...
another presidential candidate running on the Democratic ticket, would host a campaign rally at the airport.
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...
, also visited the airport two days later on March 4.
1980s & 1990s
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a controversial proposal to move the airport by both Sarasota County and Manatee County due to airport overcrowding. An opinion poll was held in 1970 with 66% of voters voting against a new airport. The proposal suggested making the facility into a
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 ...
airport and constructing a replacement east of future
Interstate 75
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...
within
Lakewood Ranch
Lakewood Ranch is a planned community and census-designated place in southeastern Manatee County and northeastern Sarasota County, Florida, United States, consisting of approximately . It is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida M ...
. Opposition to the airport would also come from a local environmentalist, Gloria Rains, who was the head and founder of ManaSota-88, an environmental group. Rains would later on be opposed to the development of Lakewood Ranch as well but did like that natural features in the area were preserved. However, the airport authority struck down the idea in 1985. A facility for commuter flights would be added onto the airport in 1983. Instead of building a new airport, the airport's facilities, in general, would be expanded. Work began in 1987 to build a new airport terminal along with areas for parking, ramp space and landscaping. The new terminal building would open on October 29, 1989.
During the first day the new airport terminal was in operation, the ''
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'' is a daily newspaper, located in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1925 as the ''Sarasota Herald''.
History
The newspaper was owned by The New York Times Company from 1982 to 2012. It was then owned by Halifax Media ...
'' reported that passengers and airline staff liked it. On its first day of operations the airport would still be under construction and several problems were encountered: the computer system on the upstairs level security checkpoint area would have glitches along with problems being reported with the terminal's air conditioning. The rest of the project would be finished by 1990.
The airport was designated
port of entry
In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. Internati ...
status in 1992.
September 11 attacks
Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...
was at the airport on September 11, 2001.
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
was at the
Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota when
Andrew Card
Andrew Hill Card Jr. (born May 10, 1947) is an American politician and academic administrator who was White House Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006, as well as head of Bush's White House Iraq Group. Card served as ...
first informed him of the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, at 9:05 AM. Bush returned to the airport. The 747 taxied out at 9:54 AM and took off from runway 14 at 9:55 AM flying first to
Barksdale Air Force Base
Barksdale Air Force Base (Barksdale AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in northwest Louisiana, United States, in Bossier Parish. It is contiguous to Bossier City, Louisiana, along the base's western and northwestern edge. Barksdale AFB ...
in
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
.
2003 – present
![Allegiant at srq](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Allegiant_at_srq.jpg)
In 2003,
AirTran Airways
AirTran Airways was a low-cost U.S. airline that was originally headquartered in Orlando, Florida, and ceased operation following its acquisition by Southwest Airlines.
AirTran Airways was established in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines by the ...
began service at SRQ to
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , also known as Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport, Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield, Hartsfield–Jackson and, formerly, as the Atlanta Municipal Airport, is the primary internatio ...
, and
Baltimore–Washington International Airport
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Internatio ...
, and by 2011 the airline served six U.S. cities nonstop from SRQ.
In January 2012,
AirTran Airways
AirTran Airways was a low-cost U.S. airline that was originally headquartered in Orlando, Florida, and ceased operation following its acquisition by Southwest Airlines.
AirTran Airways was established in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines by the ...
announced that it would drop SRQ on August 12, 2012, as part of its merger with
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...
. Despite this, Southwest Airlines began service to SRQ in February 2021.
2020s and late 2010s
Construction on a new aircraft control tower would start in November 2015 and was finished in 2017. Starting in the late 2010s the airport would start to rapidly grow in passenger traffic in a move mostly credited to Allegiant beginning to service the airport. Prior to the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
the airport would be one of the fastest growing in the United States.
On December 19, 2019, a
GMC pickup truck crashed into the baggage claim causing $250,000 in damage.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in air traffic significantly declining similarly to other airports in the United States but would be the least impacted airports nationally.
Despite a decline in the number of passengers several new flights were added/announced. Elite Airways would expand operations at the airport in 2021 when they started nonstop flights to
White Plains,
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...
,
Nantucket
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
and
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
on July 2. Passenger numbers in 2021 would end up being 70% higher than before the pandemic
and would end up breaking a one-year passenger traffic record set in 1990 in a span of 8 months.
To accommodate for recent growth, a new terminal named Concourse A (while the current/original terminal will be called Concourse B) will be built possibly by 2024 and will contain five gates. The new terminal will increase passenger capacity by 2.5 million.
Facilities
The airport covers at an elevation of . It has two asphalt runways: 14/32 is 9,500 by 150 feet (2,896 x 46 m) and 04/22 is 5,009 by 150 feet (1,527 x 46 m).
In the year ending November 30, 2017, the airport had 101,311 aircraft operations, average 278 per day: 80%
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 ...
, 11% airline, 8%
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 ...
, and 2% military. 272 aircraft were then based at this airport: 69% single-engine, 18% jet, 7% multi-engine, 6%
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 ...
, and <1% ultra-light.
Terminals
The airport contains two terminals with a total of 13 gates. Both Terminal B & Terminal D opened on October 29, 1989.
Terminal B is the main terminal at the airport and contains 13 gates.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Destinations map
Statistics
Airline market share
Top domestic destinations
References
External links
Sarasota Bradenton International Airport official site
*
An extensive history of airline service
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport
Airports in Florida
Airports in the Tampa Bay area
Transportation buildings and structures in Manatee County, Florida
Transportation buildings and structures in Sarasota County, Florida
Airports established in 1939
1939 establishments in Florida
Formerly Used Defense Sites in Florida
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Florida