Lake Tahoe Airport is a public airport three miles southwest of

South Lake Tahoe South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 2010 census. The city, along the southern edge of Lake ...

, in

El Dorado County, California El Dorado County (), officially the County of El Dorado, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 191,185. The county seat is Placerville. The County is part of the Sacramento- Roseville-A ...

. It covers and has one runway; it is sometimes called Tahoe Valley Airport.

History

The airport in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

just south of

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

opened in 1959 with a 5900-ft runway. Beginning in 1962 it had a few airline flights: the first were on

Futura Airlines Futura International Airways was an airline with its head office in the ''Zona Facturación'' on the property of Palma de Mallorca Airport in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. It operated scheduled services and charter flights for tour operators and othe ...

, an

intrastate airline Intrastate airlines in the U.S. are defined as air carriers operating inside of one individual state and thus not flying across state lines. Larger intrastate airlines in the U.S. that operated mainline turboprop and/or jet aircraft were created ...

, and on Paradise Airlines, both flying

Lockheed L-049 Constellation The Lockheed L-049 Constellation was the first model of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. It entered service as the C-69 military transport aircraft during World War II for the United States Army Air Forces and was the first civilian ver ...

s. Paradise ceased operations after a fatal accident in the mountains near Lake Tahoe and

Pacific Air Lines Pacific Air Lines was a regional airline (then called a "local service" air carrier as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid 1940s under the name ...

arrived in 1964 with

Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standa ...

s. That summer, Lake Tahoe was a stop on an F-27 "milk run": flight 771 Reno-Lake Tahoe-Sacramento-San Francisco-San Jose-Fresno-Bakersfield-Los Angeles-San Diego. In 1966 Pacific started the first jet service to Lake Tahoe,

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter f ...

s flying Los Angeles (

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 ...

)-San Jose-Lake Tahoe. A 1966 Pacific Air Lines route map depicted nonstop 727 service to San Francisco (

SFO San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middle ...

) and Reno. This 727 service lasted less than a year, and Lake Tahoe did not see scheduled jets again until 1983; scheduled airline jet flights were banned by the local government after Pacific ended its 727 flights. Pacific Air Lines and successors Air West and

Hughes Airwest Hughes Airwest was a regional airline in the western United States, backed by Howard Hughes' Summa Corporation. Its original name in 1968 was Air West and the air carrier was owned by Nick Bez. Hughes Airwest flew routes in the w ...

continued operating F-27 flights until 1973.

Holiday Airlines Holiday Airlines was a Turkish charter company that operated between 1994 and 1996. History Holiday Airlines in Turkey began operations in the summer of 1994 using Airbus A320 aircraft serving mostly the German tourist market. Holiday Airli ...

served Lake Tahoe with

Lockheed L-188 Electra The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensiv ...

s in the 1960s and early 1970s, followed by

Pacific Southwest Airlines Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a regional U.S. airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1998. It was the first large discount airline in the United States. PSA called itself "The World's Friendliest Airl ...

(PSA) and

Air California Air California, later renamed AirCal, was an American airline company, founded by William E. Myers and Bill Perrera, a partnership of Orange County businessmen. It began as an intrastate airline operating solely within California. Air Californ ...

(later AirCal) Electras starting in 1975. Sierra Pacific Airlines, a commuter air carrier, served the airport in the mid 1960s with flights to San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Monterey. Skymark Airlines, a predecessor of

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 ...

(which later served the airport as well), flew

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 ...

s in the late 1960s nonstop to Sacramento and Fresno and direct to Oakland, San Jose and Monterey. Valley Airlines, another commuter airline, was serving the airport in 1969 with nonstop flights to Reno, San Francisco, San Jose and Stockton. PSA dropped Lake Tahoe in 1979, as did Air California a few months later. The replacements were

Aspen Airways Aspen Airways was an airline carrier and regional affiliate of United Express and based in Hangar 5 in Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado. Aspen ceased operations on April 1, 1990, when separate portions of the airline were acqu ...

and

Cal Sierra Airlines Cal Sierra Airlines was a start-up airline based in San Diego, California. The airline was the brainchild of former Pan Am Captain Ed Perry. History The airline started in 1980 with a route between San Diego and South Lake Tahoe, California, ...

, both flying

Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

s, and

Air Pacific (United States) Air Pacific was a commuter airline based in the United States that operated regional flights wholly within the state of California. Founded as Eureka Aero in 1970, it was renamed Air Pacific in 1979. Its de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and D ...

and successor

Golden Gate Airlines Golden Gate Airlines was a United States regional airline founded in 1980 in Monterey, California after the merger of Gem State Airlines and Air Pacific (USA) in 1979. It merged again in 1981, this time with Swift Aire Lines, but discontinued ...

as well as

with all three airlines operating

de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with short take-off and landing (STOL) performance. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, d ...

s. Pacific Coast Airlines (formerly Apollo Airways) served the airport with

Handley Page Jetstream The Handley Page HP.137 Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage. The aircraft was designed to meet the requirements of the United States commuter and regional airline market. The design was later improved and b ...

s while

Gulf Air Transport Gulf Air Transport was a small charter airline headquartered at the Acadiana Regional Airport (ARA), a former U.S. Navy military airbase located in New Iberia, Louisiana, United States. The company flew piston, turboprop and jet aircraft ty ...

McCulloch International Airlines Vance International Airlines was an American supplemental and air-taxi airline that started operations in 1949. History Vance was headquartered at Boeing Field (officially ''King County Airport'') in Seattle, Washington. Its founder and president ...

and Nomads Travel Club nonscheduled gambling charters all used Electras. Other turboprop operators were Royal American Airways with the

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

, Sierra Expressway with the

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 ...

and Alpha Air operating as

Trans World Express Trans World Express (TWE) was the fully owned and certificated, regional carrier for Trans World Airlines (TWA) and an airline trademark name for TWA's corporation. * Trans World Express - The formerly independent regional airline known as Ranso ...

for

TWA Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

with the

Beechcraft 1900C The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...

. According to the

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, flight sta ...

, six regional and commuter airlines were serving Lake Tahoe in spring 1981 including Air Sierra, Aspen Airways, Cal Sierra Airlines, Golden Gate Airlines, Golden West Airlines and Great Sierra Airlines with a combined total of up to 24 flights a day. The April 1, 1981 OAG edition lists nonstop flights from Burbank, Fresno, Los Angeles, Oakland, Orange County, Reno, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Truckee, CA. Jet service resumed in 1983 with AirCal

McDonnell Douglas MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gene ...

s followed by

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

s. AirCal flew nonstop to Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose, CA and direct to Burbank and Orange County. In 1987 a daily AirCal 737-300 flight was scheduled direct to

Chicago O'Hare Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop business ...

via San Francisco and Orange County.

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

acquired AirCal in 1987 and continued to serve Lake Tahoe with the former AirCal 737-300s but soon switched its service to regional partner

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 ...

which operated

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

s and

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 ...

s to the airport in the 1990s. American was the only major airline to serve Lake Tahoe. In late 1989 American and code sharing affiliate American Eagle were the only airlines at Lake Tahoe, American with

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

s and American Eagle with

Metro III 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 ...

s. At one point

Reno Air Reno Air was a scheduled passenger airline headquartered in Reno, Nevada, United States. Reno Air provided service from its hubs at Reno/Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada, San Jose International Airport in San Jose, California and Las ...

flew

s and

MD-87 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...

s nonstop to Los Angeles; other jets included

BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (or BAC-111/BAC 1-11) was an early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-se ...

s and

Convair 990 The Convair 990 Coronado is an American narrow-body four-engined jet airliner produced between 1961 and 1963 by the Convair division of American company General Dynamics. It was a stretched version of its earlier Convair 880 produced in respon ...

s on nonscheduled casino charters. The four engine Convair 990 jet operated by

Denver Ports of Call Denver Ports of Call is a defunct United States private airline which operated flights for the Denver-based Ports of Call Travel Club from 1967 to 1992. In its heyday, Ports of Call was the largest travel club in the United States, with at one ti ...

airlines could land at the airport but could not depart from Lake Tahoe with a full load of passengers, so departing passengers were bused to the Reno airport and boarded the 990 there. In 1999

Casino Express Airlines Avelo Airlines () is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier headquartered in Houston, Texas. It previously operated charter flights as ''Casino Express Airlines'' and ''Xtra Airways'', before transitioning to scheduled operations and rebranding as Av ...

operating as

Tahoe Air Tahoe Air was a United States airline founded by Mark Sando, who used Casino Express Airlines to fund their plane purchase. Tahoe Air offered jet flights directly out of South Lake Tahoe via the South Lake Tahoe Airport. Scheduled passenger s ...

started low fare

service nonstop to San Jose and Los Angeles (LAX).

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America. Allegiant was founded in 1 ...

flew

McDonnell Douglas DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

nonstops to Burbank, Fresno, Las Vegas and Long Beach in 1999-2000. Tahoe Air ceased operations later in 1999 while Allegiant ended all service in 2000 and later became a low fare air carrier that is still in business. Lake Tahoe has not had scheduled passenger flights since, and the area is now served by Reno-Tahoe International Airport and

Sacramento International Airport Sacramento International Airport is located northwest of Downtown Sacramento in Sacramento County, California, United States and covers . It serves the Sacramento Metropolitan Area, and it is run by the Sacramento County Airport System. The a ...

. Due to budget cuts in 2001, the FAA ceased funding on-site weather observers who had also served as the airport's air traffic controllers. Unable to find replacement funding, the South Lake Tahoe city council voted to close the airport's Air Traffic Control Tower on October 1, 2004. Despite the tower's closure, the airport continues to serve general aviation traffic using self-announce procedures for uncontrolled airports. Beginning in 2006, the airport's former commercial airline terminal building was renovated and converted into a new city hall and administrative services office for the City of South Lake Tahoe. Relocating to airport land allowed the city to counter rising lease costs at its old location in the Al Tahoe neighborhood. Renovations were completed and the new city hall opened in 2007.

Facilities

FBO services (e.g. fuel and ground support) are provided by Mountain West Aviation. Attached to the former airline terminal building, the Flight Deck Sports Bar & Grill provides a public restaurant overlooking the airport's runway.

Former airline service

Airlines in bold served Lake Tahoe with mainline jets. All of the following destinations were served nonstop or direct. *

/ AirCal: Burbank, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, Orange County, San Francisco, San Jose *

: Stockton, San Francisco * Air Sierra: Fresno, Mammoth Lakes *

: Burbank, Fresno, Las Vegas, Long Beach * Alpha Air ''( TWA Express code share with

s):'' Los Angeles, Mammoth Lakes, Orange County, Palm Springs, San Francisco *

: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose *

(

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 ...

): Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose *

: Burbank, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose *

: Burbank, San Diego * Futura Airlines: Oakland *

: Reno, San Francisco *

: Los Angeles, Ontario, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco * Great Sierra Airlines: Fresno, Oakland, Reno, San Jose, Truckee * Hawthorne Nevada Airlines: Hawthorne, NV *

: Burbank, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, San Jose *

/ Air West /

: Los Angeles, Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose and other California cities * Pacific Coast Airlines: San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barbara *

(PSA): Burbank, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Ontario, San Diego, San Francisco * Paradise Airlines: Oakland, San Jose *

: Los Angeles * Royal American Airways: Las Vegas, Oakland * Sierra Expressway: Oakland * Sierra Pacific Airlines: Monterey, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose ''(this mid 1960s commuter air carrier is not to be confused'' ''with'' ''

Sierra Pacific Airlines Sierra Pacific Airlines is an American charter airline based in Tucson, Arizona, USA. It operates passenger charters and sub-charters for other airlines, as well as for the United States Forest Service, United States Military and the United Stat ...

which was a separate airline that operated in California in the 1970s)'' * Skymark Airlines: Fresno, Monterey, Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose *

: Los Angeles, San Jose * Valley Airlines: Reno, San Francisco, San Jose, Stockton * Yosemite Airlines: Columbia, CA, Monterey, San Francisco

References

Lake Tahoe Airport
(its web site) *
Departed Flights
(old airline timetables)

External links

* {{US-airport-ga, TVL Airports in El Dorado County, California