West Houston Airport is a privately owned, public use airport in

Harris County, Texas Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas; as of the 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston, ...

, 15 miles west of

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45, ...

in the

Greater Katy Greater Katy Area is the term often used to refer to a suburban region on the west side of the Greater Houston metropolitan area roughly corresponding to the boundaries of the Katy Independent School District. Many people and businesses in this ar ...

area. It opened in 1962 and was known as Lakeside Airport until the early 1980s due to its location near the edge of

Addicks reservoir The Addicks Reservoir and Addicks Dam in conjunction with the Barker Reservoir prevent downstream flooding of Buffalo Bayou in the City of Houston, Texas. Both reservoirs were authorized under the Rivers and Harbors Act of June 20, 1938, which wa ...

. 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 2011–2015 categorized it as 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 ...

reliever airport A relief airport or reliever airport is an airport that is built or designated to provide relief or additional capacity to an area when the primary commercial airport(s) requires additional capacity, on a long-term or temporary basis. Reliever a ...

''.

Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZHU) is located at George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 16600 JFK Boulevard, Houston, Texas, United States 77032. The Houston ARTCC is one of 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers in the United States. ...

in Houston is the airport's designated

ARTCC In air traffic control, an area control center (ACC), also known as a center or en-route center, is a facility responsible for controlling aircraft flying in the airspace of a given flight information region (FIR) at high altitudes between ai ...

Facilities

West Houston Airport covers 200

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (81 ha) at an elevation of 111 feet (34 m). Its single runway, 15/33, is 3,953 by 75 feet (1,205 x 23 m) asphalt. In 2016 the airport had 103,000 aircraft operations, average 282 per day: 68% local

, 31% transient general aviation, and 1%

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 ...

. The airport is home to more than 375 aircraft. Being privately owned, the airport does not receive federal funding for improvements. There is a landing fee for fixed-wing aircraft that's usually $10. There is also a US$10 Handling/Security/Facility fee will be invoiced to the aircraft's owner if incoming passengers do not make some sort of purchase to support the airport. The terminal building is a two-story facility containing conference rooms and normal airport facilities. West Houston Airport was named as one of America's "Most Needed Airports" list by NATA (National Air Transportation Association)

Past scheduled passenger airline service

In the mid 1980s, West Houston Airport was served by Air West (a commuter air carrier not to be confused with

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 ...

) with eight nonstop flights every weekday to

Dallas Love Field Dallas Love Field is a city-owned public airport northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas., effective April 10, 2008 It was Dallas' main airport until 1974 when Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened. Love Field covers an area of a ...

operated with four engine, 50-passenger seat

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 ...

turboprops with these aircraft being

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

(short take off and landing) capable which was advantageous in light of the relatively short runway at IWS.

References

External links

West Houston Airport

Aerial image as of January 1995
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to prov ...

'' * * {{Greater Houston Airports Airports in Harris County, Texas Airports established in 1962

Facilities

Past scheduled passenger airline service

See also

References

External links