Sawyer International Airport is a county-owned public-use airport in
Marquette County, Michigan
Marquette County ( ) is a county located in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 66,017. The county seat is Marquette. The county is named for Father Marquette, a Jesuit missionary. It w ...
, United States. It is located south of the central business district of the city of Marquette. It is included in the
Federal Aviation Administration
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 ...
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 is located near Gwinn, on a portion of the former
K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base
K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force (USAF) installation in Marquette County, Michigan, south of the city of Marquette. Near the center of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the base operated for nearly forty years ...
, which closed in September 1995. The airport opened for passenger service in September 1999, serving Marquette and the surrounding area. It replaced the former
Marquette County Airport
Marquette County Airport is a former airport in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, located in Negaunee Township in Marquette County, several miles west of the city of Marquette. With the 1995 closure of nearby K. I. Sawyer Air Force ...
, which closed the same year.
Although many 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
Federal Aviation Administration
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 ...
Sabiha Gökçen International Airport Sabiha is an Arabic word () meaning "Morning" and a female given name. In Urdu it (خوبصورت، گوری چٹی) refers to beautiful, and blonde hair. People with the name include:
People Given name
*Sabiha Sultan
ota, رقیه صبیØÙ‡ س٠...
International Civil Aviation Organization
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 ...
(ICAO) identifier is KSAW.
In 2022, the airport sent out a survey to ask for input in a rebranding effort.
Facilities and aircraft
Aircraft Statistics
Sawyer International Airport covers an area of . It has a single asphalt/concrete runway, , originally re-designed in 1959 to accommodate
B-52
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...
bombers and
KC-135
The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpo ...
tankers. This airport is capable of handling aircraft as large as a Boeing 747-8 or a 777-200.
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 18,141 aircraft operations, an average of 50 per day: 54% general aviation, 38% air taxi, 1% scheduled commercial service and 7% military. In December 2022, there were 41 aircraft based at this airport: 36 single-engine, 4 multi-engine and 1 jet.
Facilities
There is an industrial park, the Telkite Technology Park, adjacent to the airport, with of land and of space in a Michigan Renaissance Zone, which exempts the tenant or owner from the majority of state and local taxes.
The airport is home to the Marquette County Aviation Wall of Honor, which features many influential pilots and engineers.
In 2022, the airport received a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to repair hangars.
Upgrade Plans
The airline is planning on starting a significant renovation in 2023. $20 million will be allocated toward the project. Included in the project is a new fire suppression system in a military aircraft hangar, a terminal expansion, and new
taxiway
A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use gravel ...
asphalt. The air traffic control tower will be upgraded in 2024, and new aircraft parking spaces will be added. The entire project could last until 2027. The project will also include security upgrades to be able to accept flights on bigger aircraft.
Terminal upgrades will include an upgraded entrance, new art installations, new expansions, and a bigger size in general. The FAA will fund part of the project, including money from the federal
CARES Act
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2trillion Stimulus (economics), economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27, ...
from 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 identi ...
. The airport is collecting final funds in order to begin the project.
The airport has already added new hangars to support airline operations at the airport.
A number of unusable buildings will be torn down as part of the project.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Statistics
Cargo
Accidents & Incidents
*On January 5, 2015, a
Cessna 172 Skyhawk
The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.Sawyer International Airport at Michigan Airport Directory
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