Okaloosa Regional Airport

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Okaloosa Regional Airport Eglin Air Force Base
IATA: VPS – ICAO: KVPS – FAA: VPS
Summary
Airport type		Public / Military
Owner/Operator		United States Air Force
Serves		Fort Walton Beach
Location		Valparaiso, Florida
Elevation AMSL		87 ft / 26.5 m
Coordinates		30°29′00″N 086°31′31″W / 30.483333, -86.52528
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
12/30	12,005	3,659	Asphalt
1/19	10,012	3,052	Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations			126,060
Based aircraft			14
Source: Federal Aviation Administration^[1]

Okaloosa Regional Airport (IATA: VPS, ICAO: KVPS, FAA LID: VPS) is an airport located near Valparaiso and Fort Walton Beach, in Okaloosa County, Florida, USA.

It is located within Eglin Air Force Base, so no private aircraft are permitted to leave out of or arrive at Okaloosa Regional. Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport is used for non-commercial operations.

Okaloosa Regional Airport is served by eight airlines providing non-stop service to eight cities in the Southeastern United States, Dallas,Chicago, and Cincinnati. In 2007 the total passengers that flew out of Okaloosa Regional was over 800,000. There is a demand for more flights to and from Okaloosa Regional Airport. As a result, the airport is expanding its terminal by adding additional gates. Airport officials hope to break ground in 2009.

1 History
2 Facilities
3 Airlines and destinations
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Gates at the Okaloosa Regional Airport.

1957: The Okaloosa County Air Terminal opened on Eglin Air Force Base in building 89 with 3 personnel (Airport Manager, Security and Admin Support. Southern Airways was the only air carrier. Passengers would enter the base through the TAC gate on the east side of the base in Valparaiso, thus the airport code of VPS was born.

1968: Southern Airways began flying four DC-9 aircraft daily out of VPS. Air New Orleans began operations with service to New Orleans.

March 13, 1975: The Okaloosa Air Terminal located on State Road 85 opened its doors. The 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m²) facility was constructed at a cost of $1.7 million. Financing for the entire facility was through federal, state, and local money. Federal grants totaled $472,000, state $80,000, Okaloosa County bond sale $1.1 million, and Southern Airways $190,000. First year enplaned passengers totaled 97,000 with Southern Airways as the sole airline with 12 departing flights daily.

November 2004: The current Okaloosa Regional Airport opened its doors following a major expansion program including additional public parking and aircraft parking apron, a second parallel taxiway, landscaping and a new 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m²) passenger terminal.

January 2008: Broke ground on the Consolidated Rental Car Service Facility to be located on 22 acres east of the airport. This facility will have offices for all 5 rental car companies as well as rental car service facilities with hydraulic lifts, automated car washes, gas pumps and vacuum islands and a consolidated fuel farm for both aviation and unleaded gasoline. A cargo facility and new offices for airport maintenance will also be built to the east of the terminal and are included in the project.

[edit] Facilities

Okaloosa Regional Airport and Eglin AFB share two runways:

Runway 12/30: 12,005 x 300 ft (3,659 x 91 m), Surface: Asphalt
Runway 1/19: 10,012 x 300 ft (3,052 x 91 m), Surface: Asphalt
110,000ft² airport passenger terminal building with three second-level gates with passenger jet ways and three ground-level commuter gates with regional jet boarding bridges