El Paso airport

El Paso International Airport
El Paso International Airport
IATA: ELP – ICAO: KELP
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	City of El Paso
Serves	El Paso, Texas
Location	El Paso, Texas
Elevation AMSL	3,958 ft / 1,206 m
Coordinates	31°48′26″N 106°22′39″W / 31.80722°N 106.3775°WCoordinates: 31°48′26″N 106°22′39″W / 31.80722°N 106.3775°W
Website	elpasointernationalairport.com
Map
	ELP Location within Texas
Runways
Statistics (2010)
Passengers	3,065,393
	Source: ACI

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Transcluded from Wikipedia

El Paso International Airport (IATA: ELP, ICAO: KELP, FAA LID: 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.

Public transportation to and from the airport is provided by Sun Metro bus #33 and #50.

In 2010 there were 3,065,393 total commercial passengers.^[2]

[edit] 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 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) December 21, 1942 – February 1, 1943
- Served with the 8th Air Force in England.
491st Bombardment Group (Heavy) (B-24 Liberator) November 11, 1943 – January 1, 1944
- Served with the 8th Air Force in England.
497th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) (B-29 Superfortress) November 20 – December 1, 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 hijacking 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.

Serving General Aviation at El Paso International Airport, Cutter Aviation established a Fixed Base Operation in 1982 at the airport. Cutter Aviation moved to a new facility on Shuttle Columbia Drive in 2006. Atlantic Aviation also serves general aviation at ELP.

[edit] Facilities

El Paso International Airport covers 6,800 acres (2,752 ha) and has three runways:

Runway 4/22: 12,020 × 150 ft (3,660 × 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
Runway 8R/26L: 9,025 × 150 ft (2,751 × 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
Runway 8L/26R: 5,493 × 75 ft (1,674 × 23 m), Surface: Asphalt

The layout of the terminal at the El Paso International Airport is a pier-satellite layout. The terminal has a central entrance and the gates branch out east to west on the two concourses. The Airport has East and West Concourses. Gates A1–A4 are located on the West Concourse and Gates B1–B11 is located on the East Concourse. The Airport has a total of 15 gates. There is also a lower and upper level. The gates are located on the upper level and the ticketing, baggage claim, rental car, and main entrance are located on the lower level of the terminal. The meeter/greeter area is located on the lower level just behind the escalators that lead to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint leading to the gates. Major terminal renovations have been made over the past several years, designed and managed by the local architectural firm Moore, Nordell, Kroeger Architects.

The Airport access road is Convair Road. Convair Road splits into four lanes with the left two lanes reserved for commercial vehicles and the right two lanes utilized for pickup and drop off of passengers. In between the split road there is a waiting area where passengers can wait for commercial vehicles to arrive.

The Airport security concourse from airside.

The Don Juan de Oñate statue standing at the exit of the airport.

Gates: Generally, these gates are used for the following airlines. Gates A1–A2: American Airlines and American Eagle. Gates B1–B2: Delta Air Lines and Delta Connection. Gates B3–B6: Southwest Airlines. Gate B7: US Airways and US Airways Express. Gates B9 and B11: United Airlines and United Express.

Food Court: The food court is located between gates B6 and B11. It is currently occupied with Carlos and Mickey's Mexican Express, Pizza Hut Express, Quizno's and Starbucks Coffee.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

El Paso International Airport has a total of 15 gates on 2 concourses: Concourse A consists of gates A1–A4, and Concourse B has gates B1–B11.

Airlines	Destinations	Concourse
American Airlines	Dallas/Fort Worth Seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare	A
American Eagle	Chicago-O'Hare, Los Angeles	A
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta	B
Delta Connection operated by Shuttle America	Atlanta	B
Southwest Airlines	Albuquerque, Austin, Dallas-Love, Houston-Hobby, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego	B
United Airlines	Houston-Intercontinental	B
United Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines	Denver, Houston-Intercontinental	B
United Express operated by Mesa Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare	B
United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines	Chicago-O’Hare, Denver, Houston-Intercontinental, Los Angeles	B
US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines	Phoenix	B
US Airways Express operated by SkyWest Airlines	Phoenix	B

[edit] Top airlines and destinations

**Busiest Domestic Routes from ELP (January - December 2011)**^[3]
Rank	City	Passengers	Carriers
1	Dallas, Texas (DFW)	265,000	American
2	Phoenix, Arizona	235,000	Southwest, US Airways
3	Dallas, Texas (DAL)	127,000	Southwest
4	Los Angeles, California	92,000	American, Southwest, United
5	Houston, Texas (IAH)	88,000	United
6	Atlanta, Georgia	82,000	Delta
7	Las Vegas, Nevada	82,000	Southwest
8	Austin, Texas	81,000	Southwest
9	Houston, Texas (Hobby)	79,000	Southwest
10	Chicago, Illinois	69,000	American, United

[edit] Accidents and incidents

On July 20, 1982, Douglas C-47D N102BL of Pronto Aviation Services was damaged beyond repair in a crash landing near El Paso International Airport following an engine failure shortly after take-off. The aircraft was on a domestic non-scheduled passenger flight to Tucson International Airport, Arizona when the engine failed and the decision was made to return to El Paso. A single engine go-around was attempted following an unsafe landing gear warning.^[4]

On February 19, 1988, Don McCoy, a private pilot, the owner of El Paso Sand and Gravel, took off in a newly acquired Rockwell Aero Commander 680 in a snowstorm (an aircraft he was not properly rated to fly), and attempted to land again after encountering mechanical trouble in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The aircraft crashed, killing the owner and two acquaintances. Some attempted to attribute the accident to US Senator Phil Gramm, as McCoy was due to testify against Senator Gramm's shakedown of campaign contributions made by the El Paso Small Business Administration office.^[5]^[6]

On January 16, 2006, a mechanic employed by a contractor of Continental Airlines was killed when he was sucked into the right engine of a Boeing 737-500 while investigating an oil leak. The aircraft was preparing to depart as Continental Airlines Flight 1515 to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.^[7]^[8]^[9]