El Paso International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = El Paso International Airport
nativename =
nativename-a =
nativename-r =

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image-width =
caption =
IATA = ELP
ICAO = KELP
type = Public
owner =
operator = City of El Paso
city-served =
location = El Paso, Texas
elevation-f = 3,958
elevation-m = 1,206
coordinates = Coord|31|48|26|N|106|22|39|W|type:airport_region:US
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 4/22
r1-length-f = 12,020
r1-length-m = 3,664
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 8R/26L
r2-length-f = 9,025
r2-length-m = 2,751
r2-surface = Asphalt
r3-number = 8L/26R
r3-length-f = 5,493
r3-length-m = 1,674
r3-surface = Asphalt
stat-year =
stat1-header =
stat1-data =
stat2-header =
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El Paso International Airport Airport codes|ELP|KELP|ELP is a public airport located four miles (6 km) northeast of the central business district (CBD) of the City of El Paso, in El Paso County, Texas, USA.

Facilities

El Paso International Airport covers convert|6800|acre|ha|0|lk=on and has three runways:
* Runway 4/22: 12,020 x 150 ft (3,664 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
* Runway 8R/26L: 9,025 x 150 ft (2,751 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
* Runway 8L/26R: 5,493 x 75 ft (1,674 x 23 m), Surface: Asphalt

Airlines and destinations

El Paso International Airport has a total of 15 gates on 2 concourses.

Concourse A

Concourse A has 4 Gates: A1 - A4
* American Airlines Gates A1, A2 (Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth)
** American Eagle (Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles) [begins November 2]
* Frontier Airlines Gate A3
** Frontier Airlines operated by Lynx Aviation (Denver)

Concourse B

Concourse B has 11 Gates: B1 - B11
* Continental Airlines Gate B9 (Houston-Intercontinental)
** Continental Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental)
** Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental)
* Delta Air Lines Gates B1, B2 (Atlanta)
** Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Atlanta)
* Southwest Airlines Gates B3 - B6 (Albuquerque, Austin, Dallas-Love, Houston-Hobby, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Lubbock, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego) Due to construction of new restaurants and facilities in the B terminal, B6 is closed down. Southwest Airlines is occasionally using B2 (Delta) as an alternate gate.)
* United Airlines Gate B11
** United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines (Denver)
* US Airways Gate B7 (Phoenix)
** US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Phoenix)

History

The city of El Paso had originally constructed the El Paso Municipal Airport at a location close to the East Side of the Franklin Mountains in 1928. The airport was abandoned by 1965, and in more recent times has been home to the Jobe Concrete Products "Planeport" cement factory.

The El Paso International Airport was originally constructed as Standard Airport, constructed by Standard Airlines in 1929 for transcontinental air mail service. Standard Airlines became a division of American Airlines in the 1930s. In 1936, American Airlines "swapped" airports with the city of El Paso, and the El Paso International Airport was born.

In 1934, Varney Speed Lines (now known as the popular airline Continental Airlines) operated its service in and out of the old El Paso Municipal Airport (now closed). In 1937, the airline moved to Denver, Colorado when Robert Six took over the airline.

During World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base. Units which trained at El Paso Army Airfield were:

* 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy) (B-17 Flying Fortress) 21 Dec 1942 - 1 Feb 1943
** Served with the 8th Air Force in England.
* 491st Bombardment Group (Heavy) (B-24 Liberator) 11 Nov 1943 - 1 Jan 1944
** Served with the 8th Air Force in England.
* 497th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) (B-29 Superfortress) 20 Nov - 1 Dec 1943
** Served with the 20th Air Force at Saipan.

At the end of the war the airfield was determined to be excess by the military and returned to the local government for civil aviation use.

Historically, Continental Airlines had a significant presence at the airport. It provided "Golden Jet" service to such cities as Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Midland-Odessa, Dallas Love Field, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. El Paso was the last stop of the first highjacking of a jetliner, a Boeing 707 owned by Continental Airlines. Before deregulation in the USA, El Paso was a focus city for Continental Airlines, however El Paso was soon demoted to a standard station in a hub-and-spoke system under Frank Lorenzo's leadership of the airline.

Other airlines in the past that offered service to and from the El Paso International Airport were [ [http://www.airtimes.com/index.htm AirTimes - A Source for Airline History ] ] :

* AeroLitoral / Aeromexico (1994 - 2001) - non-stop service to: Chihuahua(note: "Aerolitoral currently is not providing nonstop Chihuahua-El Paso service, but it has done so in the past and intends to resume service when traffic conditions warrant." - Daily Airline Filings 13 June 2008). [http://airlineinfo.com/ostdocket2002/ost0212209.htm]
* Aerovias Centrales S.A. (1933) - non-stop service to: Chihuahua
* Airways of New Mexico (1984 - 1986) - non-stop service to: Alamogordo, Roswell, Tucson
* America West Airlines (1982 - 2005) - non-stop service to: Albuquerque, Austin, Las Vegas, Phoenix
* Arizona Airways (1992 - 1995) - non-stop service to: Hermosillo, Tucscon
* Aztec Airlines (1967) - non-stop service to Silver City
* Azteca Airlines (2005) - non-stop service to: Mexico City (Mexico DF)
* Eastern Airlines (mid 1980s) - non-stop service to: Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Tucson
* Frontier Airlines (old) (1956 - 1986) - non-stop service to: Alamogordo, Albuquerque, Denver, Guadalajara, Ixtapa, Las Cruces, Mazatlan, Puerta Vallartadirect service to: Las Vegas
* Lone Star Airlines (1994) non-stop service to: Chihuahua
* Northwest Airlines (2004 - 2006) non-stop service to: Minneapolis / St. Paul
* Pioneer Airlines (1948 - 1951) non-stop service to: Las Cruces, Roswell
* Standard Airlines (1927) merged with American Airlines
* Texas International Airlines (Trans Texas Airways) (1953 - 1978, 1981 - 1982) non-stop service to: Carlsbad, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Midland/Odessa, Roswell, Sierra Blanca
* Trans World Airlines (1999 - 2001) non-stop service to: St. Louis
* Western Airlines (1985 - 1987) non-stop service to: Albuquerque, Phoenix, Salt Lake City
* Zia Airlines (1974 - 1978) non-stop service to: Las Cruces

Cities that once had non-stop service to and from the El Paso International Airport (arranged by airline) [ [http://www.airtimes.com/index.htm AirTimes - A Source for Airline History ] ] :

* American Airlines: Big Spring TX, Douglas AZ, Monterrey MX, Phoenix, San Antonio, Tucson
* Continental Airlines: Acapulco, Alamogordo, Albuquerque, Austin, Carlsbad, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Phoenix, San Angelo TX, San Antonio, Tucson
* Delta Air Lines: Albquerque, Salt Lake City, Tucson
* ExpressJet: Tucson
* Frontier Airlines (new): Albuquerque
* New Mexico Airlines: Alamogordo, Carlsbad
* Southwest Airlines: Midland/Odessa, San Francisco

ee also

* Texas World War II Army Airfields

References

* [http://www.elpasointernationalairport.com El Paso International Airport] (official site)
* [http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_ElPaso.htm Abandoned & Little Known Airfields: Texas - El Paso area]
*FAA-airport|ID=ELP|use=PU|own=PU|site=23830.*A
* [http://www.airtimes.com/index.htm AirTimes - A Source for Airline History]

External links

*FAA-diagram|00134