Napa County Airport (Napa Valley Airport) is a public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

five miles (8 km) south of Napa, in

Napa County Napa County () is a County (United States), county north of San Pablo Bay located in the Northern California, northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 138,019. The county seat i ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. It has three

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

s. During 2008 the airport's 1960-era control tower received extensive radio, plumbing and electrical upgrades and renovations funded by the federal government. Airport officials said the airport had about 122,000 flights take off or land at the facility annually in 2008.

History

The airport was built by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in the early 1940s, and was known as Napa Flight Strip. It was an emergency landing airfield for military aircraft on training flights. It was expanded later in the war and renamed Napa Army Airfield, becoming an auxiliary airfield of the

Fourth Air Force The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California. 4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Reserv ...

Hamilton Army Airfield Hamilton Field (Hamilton AFB) was a United States Air Force base, which was inactivated in 1973, decommissioned in 1974, and put into a caretaker status with the Air Force Reserve until 1976. It was transferred to the United States Army in 1983 ...

. 4th Air Force used the base to train replacement fighter pilots, primarily flying

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...

s before being deployed overseas. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the property was deeded to

by the

War Assets Administration The War Assets Administration (WAA) was created to dispose of United States government-owned surplus material and property from World War II. The WAA was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by Executive Or ...

for civil use. The airport soon became a business hub for what was once a rural, sparsely populated area in the south end of the county. Jonesy's Restaurant opened for business in 1946 at the airport and was a longtime favorite. The restaurant remained in business for 63 years before closing in 2010. By 1947 half a dozen small businesses had opened at the facility, but only Bridgeford Flying Service remained open past the first year and remains in business today. In 2012 the name was changed from Bridgeford Flying Service to Napa Jet Center. In 1971 International Air Services Company (IASCO) and

Japan Airlines Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...

(JAL) opened a flight training school at the airport. In June 2010 Japan Airlines announced that it would be closing its training facility as part of a bankruptcy reorganization plan. In February 2012 IASCO announced that it would be moving its training facility to

Redding, California Redding is a city in and the county seat of Shasta County, California, and the economic and cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California. Redding lies along the Sacramento River, north of Sacramento, California, Sacrame ...

in early March. In June 2014, International Airline Training Academy signed an agreement to lease space at the airport to train pilots for a five-year period. IATA no longer operates from the Napa County Airport as of 2017. The control tower sustained minor damage in the

2014 South Napa earthquake The 2014 South Napa earthquake occurred in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), northern San Francisco Bay Area on August 24 at . At 6.0 on the moment magnitude scale and with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of VIII (''S ...

. On May 22, 2015, Surf Air started flying regular service to the airport. The parallel runways 18R/L and 36R/L have been repaved and renumbered 19R/L and 1R/L as of October, 2019. Photos taken at the Napa County Airport indicate that a wide variety of business aircraft have used the airfield over the years including privately operated jets as large as the

Boeing Business Jet A Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) is a version of a Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing jet airliner with modifications to serve the private, head of state, and corporate jet market. The first BBJ, based on the 737-700, rolled out on July 26, 1998; a ...

( BBJ) version of the Boeing 737-700 as well as the McDonnell Douglas MD-87 jetliner.

Historical airline service

By the spring of 1947,

Southwest Airways Pacific Air Lines was a local service carrier on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid-1940s under the name Southwest Airways. The company linked small cities in California with larger cities such ...

(which in 1958 subsequently changed its name to

Pacific Air Lines Pacific Air Lines was a local service carrier on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid-1940s under the name Southwest Airways. The company linked small cities in California with larger cities such ...

, the predecessor of Air West and

Hughes Airwest Hughes Air Corporation, doing business as Hughes Airwest, was a local service carrier from 1970 to 1980 in the Western United States. It was backed by Howard Hughes' Summa Corporation. Its original name in 1968 was Air West and the air carr ...

) was serving the Napa County Airport with six daily flights operated with

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

aircraft with three round trip services flying San Francisco - Oakland - Napa - Sacramento - Marysville/Yuba City - Chico - Red Bluff - Redding with two of these flights continuing northbound serving Yreka and Medford. The April 27, 1947 Southwest Airways timetable listed its service into the airport as Vallejo-Napa noting that Napa County Airport was the airfield it used to serve both cities. Southwest Airways had ceased serving the airport by the fall of 1953. Several small commuter airlines also served the airport with scheduled passenger flights in the past. In 1969, Golden Pacific Airlines (1969-1973) was operating five flights every weekday from

San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is the primary international airport for the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. Owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco, the airport has a San Francisco mailing ...

(SFO) with

Beechcraft 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by American manufacturer Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, deriv ...

commuter turboprop aircraft. By 1978,

Stol Air Commuter Stol Air Commuter was a United States commuter airline that began service around . The air carrier was also known as STOL Air Commuter thus reflecting its use of STOL (short take-off and landing) aircraft. It served the San Francisco, California B ...

was operating six flights every weekday from San Francisco International with

Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial air ...

and Britten-Norman BN-2A Trislander prop aircraft. The airport currently currently has scheduled passenger flights, with airline service provided by

Aero Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero (A ...

offering a "scheduled charter" service. Further airline services are available at Sonoma County Airport (STS) in Santa Rosa as well as

Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States. The airport is located south of downtown Oakland and east of San Francisco, serving the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The airport is ...

(OAK) and

(SFO).

Airlines and destinations

References

* Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History's Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.

External links

Napa Valley Airport
(official site) * {{USAAF 4th Air Force World War II Airports in Napa County, California Flight Strips of the United States Army Air Forces Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in California Military in the San Francisco Bay Area Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in California

History

Historical airline service

Airlines and destinations

See also

References

External links