Sierra Vista Municipal Airport , a joint-use civil-military airport which shares facilities with Libby Army Airfield, is located on Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, a city and U.S. Army installation in

Cochise County Cochise County () is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Bisbee and the most populous city is ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

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 territori ...

. The airport has three

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, concre ...

s and one helipad. It is mostly used for military aviation for the surrounding military base. As per

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 ...

records, the airport had 1,304 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2005 and 2,041 enplanements in 2006. According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2007–2011, Sierra Vista is 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 (the ''commercial service'' category requires at least 2,500 passenger boardings per year).

Historical airline service

The airport has seen scheduled commercial service to Tucson and Phoenix by at least ten commuter air carriers from the 1960s through 2007: * Apache Airlines in the 1960s *

America West Airlines America West Airlines was a major American airline, founded in 1981, with service commencing in 1983, and having reached US$1 billion in annual revenue in 1989, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. At the time of its acquisition of US Airways, Americ ...

in the 1990s. *

Cochise Airlines Cochise Airlines was a commuter airline which was founded in 1971 in Tucson, Arizona. It operated until the early 1980s. Cochise linked small cities in Arizona with Phoenix, Arizona and Tucson, Arizona and also served southern California and Ne ...

in the 1970s * Copper State Airlines 1980-1982 * Golden Airways 1981-1983 * Sierra Vista Aviation 1983-1987 * Golden Pacific Airlines 1987 * StatesWest Airlines 1989–1991. From mid-1990 through 1991 StatesWest operated as

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 ...

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 ...

. *

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 ...

1989–2002. From late 1992 through late 2002 Mesa operated 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 Am ...

on behalf of

. * National Aircompany 2003-2004 *

Great Lakes Airlines Great Lakes Airlines was an American regional airline operating domestic scheduled and charter services. Corporate headquarters were in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with a hub at Denver International Airport. As of November 2013, Great Lakes Airlines ...

2005–2007 The airport has not seen commercial service since Great Lakes Airlines ended on February 28, 2007.

Facilities and aircraft

Sierra Vista Municipal/Libby Army Airfield has three

s and one helipad: * Runway 8/26: 12,001 x 150 ft (3,658 x 46 m), surface: concrete * Runway 12/30: 5,366 x 100 ft (1,636 x 30 m), surface: asphalt/concrete * Runway 3/21: 4,285 x 75 ft (1,306 x 23 m), surface: asphalt/concrete * Helipad H1: 40 x 40 ft (12 x 12 m), surface: asphalt For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 157,184 aircraft operations, an average of 430 per day: 74% military, 24% general aviation, 1% scheduled commercial and <1% air taxi. There are 118 aircraft based at this airport: 59% single engine, 24% military, 7% multi engine, 7% helicopters and 3% ultralights.

Cargo airline

Accidents and incidents

On January 1, 2015, a Cochise County Sheriff's Office helicopter crashed 20 miles north of the airport while returning to it after having maintenance work performed at the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

area. Pilot and former police officer Jeff Steele and mechanic Marc Hansen, a pilot himself, were both killed.

References

External links

Sierra Vista Municipal Airport
at City of Sierra Vista website
Sierra Vista Municipal Airport (FHU)
at

Arizona DOT The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT, pronounced "A-Dot") is an Arizona state government agency charged with facilitating mobility within the state. In addition to managing the state's highway system, the agency is also involved with p ...

airport directory
Libby Army Airfield
at GlobalSecurity.org
Sierra Vista Aero Association
* *
{{AZMilitary, state=autocollapse Airports in Cochise County, Arizona Sierra Vista, Arizona