Richmond International Airport

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Richmond International Airport
IATA: RIC – ICAO: KRIC – FAA: RIC
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Capital Region Airport Commission
Serves Richmond, Virginia
Location Sandston, Virginia
Elevation AMSL 167 ft / 50.9 m
Coordinates 37°30′18″N 077°19′10″W / 37.505, -77.31944
Website www.flyrichmond.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
16/34 9,003 2,744 Asphalt
2/20 6,607 2,014 Asphalt
7/25 5,326 1,623 Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations 120,581
Based aircraft 75
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Richmond International Airport (IATA: RIC, ICAO: KRIC, FAA LID: RIC) is a public airport located in Sandston, Virginia, an unincorporated community within Henrico County which is about 5 miles (8 km) east of Richmond.

Richmond International Airport is the busiest airport in central Virginia. The airport is located seven miles (11 km) southeast of Richmond, Virginia's capital.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Nine air carriers currently serve Richmond International Airport with non-stop flights to 21 destinations and connecting flights to destinations worldwide. A record 3.63 million passengers used Richmond International Airport in 2007 with growth expected to continue.

To help accommodate the current and proposed increase in passengers and air service, Richmond International Airport has embarked on a major expansion program. The program has increased the total number of gates, increased parking spaces to 8,000, and created a new terminal roadway and air traffic control tower. It features major renovations of the terminal building including upper level departures and lower level arrivals, the construction of a central utility plant and the widening of the security check points. Construction on the new two-level terminal was completed in spring 2007.

Richmond International Airport also experienced a dramatic increase in cargo activities over the past 10 years. In 2004, Richmond International Airport handled over 114 million pounds of cargo. Cargo services offered at Richmond International Airport include over 100,000 square feet (10,000 m²) of warehouse/office space and 1,000,000 square feet (100,000 m²) of apron space. The entire airport is designated a Foreign Trade Zone. Because of its central location on the Eastern Seaboard, cargo transit via RIC is on the rise. Goods shipped out of the metropolitan Richmond area can reach 50 % of the U.S. population within 24 hours.


[edit] History

The airport was dedicated as Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field in 1927 in honor of aviator Richard E. Byrd, brother of Governor of Virginia Harry F. Byrd. Charles Lindbergh attended the dedication ceremony. Although the facility was located in Henrico County, Richmond Mayor John Fulmer Bright was instrumental in the creation of Byrd Field, which was initially owned by the City of Richmond.

It is currently owned and operated by the Capital Region Airport Commission, a state-created governmental agency overseen by representatives of Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico Counties and the City of Richmond.

[edit] Airport Statistics

In 2007, the airport served 3,634,544 passengers, which is a record number of passengers for the airport, representing a 10.3% increase over 2006 figures,[2] and lags about 80,000 passengers behind the next-busiest airport in the state, Norfolk International. This makes RIC the fourth-busiest airport in Virginia (after Washington Dulles, Washington Reagan National, and Norfolk, respectively).

In 2007, US Airways and Delta controlled nearly equal shares of the market, with 24.3% of the total each. AirTran (9.2%) and JetBlue (7.9%) both enjoyed an increase in market share compared to the previous year. Newcomer Skybus represented 1.4% of the market.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] Concourse A

[edit] Concourse B

[edit] Incidents

In 1996, Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 from Trenton experienced loss of control of rudder for a while.[3] There were minor injuries.

[edit] References

  1. ^ FAA Airport Master Record for RIC (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-12-20
  2. ^ Dunham, Linda. "Richmond airport's growth flying high", Richmond Times-Dispatch, 2008-01-30. 
  3. ^ Aircraft accident Boeing 737-2H5 N221US Richmond, VA. Aviation Safety Network (1996-06-09).

[edit] External links

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