Fresno Yosemite International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Fresno Yosemite International Airport
nativename =
nativename-a =
nativename-r =

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image2-width = 300
caption2 = 17 August 1998
IATA = FAT
ICAO = KFAT
FAA = FAT
type = Public
owner = City of Fresno
operator =
city-served =
location = Fresno, California
elevation-f = 336
elevation-m = 102.4
coordinates = Coord|36|46|34|N|119|43|05|W|type:airport_region:US
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 11L/29R
r1-length-f = 9,217
r1-length-m = 2,809
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 11R/29L
r2-length-f = 7,205
r2-length-m = 2,196
r2-surface = Asphalt
h1-number = H1
h1-length-f = 70
h1-length-m = 21
h1-surface = Asphalt
stat-year =
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Fresno Yosemite International Airport Airport codes|FAT|KFAT|FAT, formerly known as Fresno Air Terminal, is a public airport located in southeastern Fresno, in Fresno County, California. The airport is over 60 miles away from Yosemite National Park. The airport covers 2,150 acres (8.7 km²) and has two runways and one helipad. It is the major air transportation center for the San Joaquin Valley, with major air carrier service to airline hubs throughout the Western United States, as well as direct international flights to Guadalajara, Mexico.

Passenger Totals

Fresno completed 2006 with 1.281 million passengers traveling through Fresno Yosemite International Airport, an increase of 7.54% over 2005.

Fresno completed 2007 with 1.382 million passengers traveling through Fresno Yosemite International Airport, an increase of 3.13% over 2006.

Airlines and destinations

Domestic

* Alaska Airlines
** Horizon Air (Portland (OR), Seattle/Tacoma)
* Allegiant Air (Las Vegas)
* American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth)
** American Eagle (Los Angeles)
* Delta Air Lines
** Delta Connection operated by SkyWest Airlines (Salt Lake City)
* United Airlines
** United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines (Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco)
* US Airways (Las Vegas)
** US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Las Vegas, Phoenix)

International

* Mexicana (Guadalajara)

Cargo

*ABX Air
*FedEx Express
*UPS Airlines

Car Rentals

* Budget
* Enterprise
* National
* Alamo
* Avis
* Hertz
* Dollar
* Enterprise

Quick facts

*Airport covers 2,300 acres (9.3 km²)
*WiFi access available throughout airport.
*FAT was the first airport in the country to implement an anti-terrorist facial recognition system, shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
*The first airport in the Nation to install a web-based, wireless system (PASSUR Flight Information Display) to list active flight arrivals and departures.
*The Category IIIB Landing System is one of the most sophisticated in the nation, necessary when navigating through the Valley's winter tule fog.
*The vast majority of air traffic in and out of the airport is private aircraft. Only 7% of the air traffic is commercial, 6% is military, and the remainder is private.
*The 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard is based out of the Fresno Yosemite International Airport. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/fresno.htm]
*The California Army National Guard maintains an Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot (AVCRAD) at the airport. The mission of this unit is to perform high level maintenance and repair on Army aircraft. Its jurisdiction covers a 15-state region in the Western United States.
*Both the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry operate an Air Attack Base at the airport for fighting forest fires with aerial tankers.

Solar Power

Fresno Yosemite International is in the stages of building a two-megawatt solar system. The $16 million solar system was completed on March 2008 and will be owned and operated by WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corp. After 20 years, the airport will take ownership of the 25-acre system. When completed the airport would have the largest solar power system in the nation.

The power system is expected to save the airport about $13 million in electricity bills over the next 20 years.

History

Military Use

The airfield was opened in June 1944. During World War II the airfield was known as Hammer Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces Fourth Air Force. Hammer Field was a training base specializing in night fighters. It had three sub-bases and two gunnery ranges.

Hammer Field also had an Army Air Forces regional hospital. The Army Air Force acquired this area for the Airways Detachment to set up a sub-base of Camp Pinedale for an extension of ordnance storage facilities and additional land for housing construction, a hospital, laundry, drainage facilities, cold storage, fire station, school building, rifle ranges, high tower shot gun range, motor pool areas, chemical warfare storage area, and a concrete underground igloo magazine arms storage

Known Army Air Force units at Hammer Field were:

* 84th, 85th, 86th, 97th Bombardment Squadron (Light)
* 402nd Army Air Forces Base Unit (Fighter) (318th Wing)
* 450th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Station-Night Fighter)
* 15th Air Force, 456th Bomb Group, 745th Squadron, 15th Crew (B-24 Bombers)

With the end of the war, the base was declared excess to requirements and returned to civil control and was named Fresno Air Terminal.

Today the California Air National Guard 144th Fighter Wing (FW) occupies two separate parcels of land at the airport. (the main base area and the Munitions Storage Area). These areas of the airport are known as the Fresno Air National Guard Base.

The mission of the 144th FW is to provide air defense protection for California from the Mexican border to Ukiah utilizing the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft. The 144th FW occupies 6 administrative, 16 industrial and 2 services buildings totaling approximately 341,251 square feet with 325 full-time personnel. A unit training drill is conducted once a month and results in a surge of up to a total of 990 personnel. There is currently an ongoing construction project (Composite Support Facility), which when completed by the end of FY 2001, will add an additional 6,236 square feet of building area.

Civil Use

In 1988 the FAA designated the airport as an "International Point of Entry," making it eligible for international flights.

In 1995 the name was changed to attract out-of-state and international visitors to Yosemite National Park. Since its opening, the airport has gone through multiple renovations and expansions. In 2002 a new two-level Concourse building was completed and in 2006 construction of a new Federal Inspection Facility (FIS) was completed. In 2005 the IATA airport code is in the process of being changed from FAT to FYI.Fact|date=February 2007 Citation ->
http://www.fresno.gov/DiscoverFresno/Airports/FresnoInternational/default.htm

Fresno has also served as headquarters for at least two airlines. Roughly 1996-1998, Air 21 flew Fokker F28 jets to various destinations; as far east as Colorado Springs, and as far west as San Francisco. Allegiant Air also called Fresno home, but has since moved its headquarters to Las Vegas.
In the 1980s, Fresno saw a variety of mainline aircraft, but throughout the 1990s, there was a shift to mainly regional aircraft. There has recently been more mainline aircraft returning to Fresno; including the long standing service to Dallas/Ft. Worth on American Airlines, Allegiant Air, Mexicana, and US Airways offer mainline service to Fresno. Delta AirLines announced service to Fresno from Atlanta, but this was later recanted. Frontier ended service as of June 2007, after 2 years of steady service.

ee also

* California World War II Army Airfields

References

*FAA-airport|ID=FAT|use=PU|own=PU|site=01591.*A
* [http://www.flyfresno.org/ Fresno Yosemite International Airport] (official web site)

External links

*FAA-diagram|00162