Jacksonville International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Jacksonville International Airport

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IATA = JAX
ICAO = KJAX
FAA = JAX
type = Public
owner = [http://www.jaa.aero/ Jacksonville Aviation Authority]
operator =
city-served = Jacksonville, Florida
location = Suburban
elevation-f = 30
elevation-m = 9
coordinates = coord|30|29|39|N|081|41|16|W
website = [http://www.jia.aero/ www.JIA.aero]
r1-number = 7/25
r1-length-f = 10,000
r1-length-m = 3,048
r1-surface = Concrete
r2-number = 13/31
r2-length-f = 7,701
r2-length-m = 2,347
r2-surface = Concrete
stat-year = 2007
stat1-header = Aircraft operations
stat1-data = 118,493
stat2-header = Passengers
stat2-data = 6,319,016
footnotes = Sources: FAA,FAA-airport|ID=JAX|use=PU|own=PU|site=03250.1*A, effective 2007-10-25] airport website [http://www.jia.aero/ Jacksonville International Airport] (official site)]

Jacksonville International Airport Airport codes|JAX|KJAX|JAX is a joint civil-military public airport located nine miles (14 km) north of the central business district of Jacksonville, a city in Duval County, Florida, United States.

History

Construction of the airport started in 1965, in order for the city to accommodate a more cosmopolitan populace which was introduced with the sizable naval bases in the region. Jacksonville International was finally opened on October 31, 1968, replacing the antiquated Imeson Field. [ [http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=109301 Error Occurred ] ] A new idea tried in the construction of Jacksonville International was the separating of departing and arriving passengers on two different sides of the terminal (as can be seen in the photo on this page). This is no longer the case though and the airport (which has been greatly expanded since the picture was taken) now utilizes the typical configuration whereby departing passengers are served on an upper level, accessed via an elevated roadway, while arriving passengers utilize the lower level of the terminal.

Concurrent with the closure of Imeson Airport, the Florida Air National Guard (FANG) also relocated to Jacksonville International Airport. Military Construction (MILCON) funds provided for the establishment of Jacksonville Air National Guard Base in the southwest quadrant of the facility and USAF-style emergency arresting gear on the runways. The Air National Guard also provides a fully equipped USAF Crash Fire Rescue station to augment the airport's own fire department. The base employs aproximately 300 full-time and 1000 part-time military personnel. [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/125fw.htm 125th Fighter Wing [125th FW ] ] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/125th_Fighter_Wing]

The FANG's 125th Fighter Wing (125 FW) has historically been assigned fighters in the intercept and air defense mission for the region. Since establishing Jacksonville Air National Guard Base at the airport, the unit has operated F-102 Delta Daggers, F-106 Delta Darts, F-16 Fighting Falcons and now flies F-15 Eagles. This is in addition to other support aircraft, such as a single C-130 Hercules, the C-26 Metroliner and multiple air and ground support roles.

Initially, Jacksonville International Airport was slow to expand, only serving two million passengers a year by 1982. However, the addition of more airline service in the late 1980s and early 1990s saw the need for more space in the complex. The airport served over five million passengers annually by 1999, and an airport expansion plan was approved in 2000. The first phase, which included rebuilding the landside terminal, the central square and main concessions area, as well as consolidating the security checkpoints to a single location, and adding more parking capacity was completed in 2004-2005. In 2007, 6,319,016 passengers were processed.

The Jacksonville International Airport includes onsite accommodations at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center.

Current expansion activities

The second phase of the expansion program [http://www.jaa.aero/as/jia_expansion.asp] is being carried out over three years, commencing in mid-2006 and is projected to cost about $170 million. It includes demolishing concourses A and C of the airside terminal (which for the most part are built to late-1960's standards), and replacing them with more spacious, modern facilities and adding more gates. These two new concourses are slated to open by the spring of 2009. Concourse B will be rebuilt at a later date. Also included is a further expansion of the parking system and a new automated baggage screening system.

In order to accommodate constructing the new airside terminal and apron, most of the western-facing gates in concourses A and C have been permanently closed.

The new Concourse A is now officially open and the new Concourse C is expected to open in late 2008. Both concourses will house ten gates each and have moving walkways. Future plans call for expanding the newly built concourses by 2020 and possibly adding a people mover system to the airport. Along with the openings of the new concourses will be more shops, restaurants and food choices for travelers pre and post security. The airport is already home to onsite facilities including Starbucks, Chili's, Cinnabon, Sam Adams, Wolfgang Puck, Sam Snead's, Sbarro's, Burger King, and Quiznos among others.

Virgin America lists Jacksonville as one of 30 cities it might serve in the next five years. [ [http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=123246 Virgin America Opens for Business With a Million Seats to Sell ] ]

The airport authority is currently trying to add non-stop flights to Phoenix and San Juan with an eye on establishing charter service to Europe.

Future plans include connecting the airport with the onsite Clarion Hotel via a moving walkway.

Facilities and aircraft

Jacksonville International Airport covers an area of 7,911 acres (3,201 ha) which contains two concrete runways: 7/25 measuring 10,000 x 150 ft. (3,048 x 46 m) and 13/31 measuring 7,701 x 150 ft. (2,347 x 46 m).

The airport's two runways are laid out in "V" configuration (with the bottom tip of the "V" pointing West). A long-range plan exists to build two additional runways, each paralleling one of the existing runways. A new runway alongside the existing southern runway will be built first. No date has been set for implementing the runway expansion plan (the expectation is that construction of the third runway would take place around 2015).

For the 12-month period ending July 30, 2006, the airport had 121,279 aircraft operations, an average of 332 per day: 48% scheduled commercial, 30% air taxi, 17% general aviation, and 5% military. There are 47 aircraft based at this airport: 13% single-engine, 15% multi-engine, 28% jet and 45% military.

Airlines and destinations

Jacksonville International Airport's terminal has 3 concourses.

Concourse A

* AirTran Airways Gate A5 (Atlanta)
* Delta Air Lines Gates A7, A9, A10 (Atlanta)
** Delta Connection operated by Comair (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-LaGuardia)
* Northwest Airlines Gates A1 and A3 (Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul [begins November 2] )
** Northwest Airlines operated by Compass Airlines (Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul [ends November 1] )
** Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Memphis)

Concourse B

* Craig Air Center Gate B12 (Marsh Harbour)
* JetBlue Airways Gate B7 (Boston, New York-JFK)
* United Airlines Gate B9 (Chicago-O'Hare)
** United Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare, Washington-Dulles)
* US Airways Gates B6 and B8 (Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington-Reagan)
** US Airways Express operated by Republic Airlines (Washington-Reagan)

Concourse C

* American Airlines Gates C8 and C10 (Dallas/Ft. Worth)
** American Connection operated by Trans States Airlines (St. Louis)
** American Eagle (Chicago-O'Hare, Miami)
* Continental Airlines Gates C7, C9, C11 (Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
** Continental Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental)
** Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines (Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
** Continental Connection operated by Gulfstream International Airlines (Tampa)
* Southwest Airlines Gates C2, C4, C6 (Baltimore/Washington, Birmingham (AL), Fort Lauderdale, Houston-Hobby, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Nashville, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Tampa)

Trivia

* Delta Air Lines is the only scheduled airline to provide service to Jacksonville International Airport using widebody aircraft. Delta widebody aircraft (mostly the Boeing 767-300) are scheduled between Jacksonville and Atlanta.
* In the early 1970s Delta Air Lines considered Boeing 747 service between Jacksonville and Atlanta. In trial runs the runway surface cracked under the weight of the aircraft when it landed, and runways were soon reinforced to accommodate widebody aircraft. Delta initiated service on the route with the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, the first widebody aircraft to operate scheduled service to and from JAX. The L-1011 was much better suited for the relatively short flight to and from Atlanta than the 747.
* At one time British Airways considered flying Concorde between Jacksonville and London. BA wanted an airport on the east coast that would give its supersonic airliner access to the lucrative Florida market while having little air traffic congestion due to Concorde's considerable appetite for fuel. The idea was abandoned. Concorde did visit JAX on a charter flight. [ [http://www.concordesst.com/history/destinations.html?d=123246 Concorde History, Destinations 1976-2003 ] ]
* Virgin Atlantic Airways became the first airline to operate the Boeing 747-400 into the airport when flight 75 from Manchester to Orlando was diverted on July 31, 2007 due to bad weather. Passengers stayed onboard and the flight later continued to Orlando.
* An LTU International Airways flight from Dusseldorf to Miami was the first Airbus A330-300 into JAX. An emergency landing was made due to right engine failure on October 8, 2007. All 239 passengers were processed through a rarely used US Customs and Immigration facility located under Concourse C before officially entering the United States. Because of a faulty incinerator, the plane was further delayed due to inability to burn overseas trash.
* Although JAX is designated as an international airport, no airlines currently fly scheduled international flights to or from the airport. There is a regular charter flight to Mexico.
* What is now the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center, located on the grounds of JAX, originally opened as the Jacksonville Airport Hilton Hotel & Towers.

References

External link s

* [http://www.jaa.aero/AirSys/Jax.aspx Jacksonville International Airport] page at the Jacksonville Aviation Authority website
*PDF| [http://www.cfaspp.com/FASP/AirportPDFs/jacksonville%20intl%20%28april%202005%29.pdf Jacksonville International Airport] |1.05 MiB brochure from [http://www.cfaspp.com/airports.asp CFASPP] (April 2005)
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* [http://www.firehouse16.com/ JIA ARFF Fire Department] (unofficial site)
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[http://www.jaxclarion.com Clarion Hotel & Conference Center @ JIA]