Charlotte County Airport

Charlotte County Airport
USGS aerial photo as of 6 January 1999
IATA: PGD – ICAO: KPGD – FAA LID: PGD
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Charlotte County Airport Authority (Charlotte County, Florida)
Serves		Charlotte County, Florida
Location		Charlotte County, near Punta Gorda, Florida
Elevation AMSL		26 ft / 8 m
Coordinates		26°55′11″N 081°59′26″W / 26.91972°N 81.99056°W / 26.91972; -81.99056
Website		www.FlyPGD.com
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
4/22	6,695	2,041	Asphalt
15/33	5,688	1,734	Asphalt
9/27	5,044	1,537	Asphalt
9/27 available distance	2,630	802	Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations			74,743
Based aircraft			295
Sources: FAA,[1] airport website[2] Updated runway distance Airnav.com,[3], Allegiant Air [4], Direct Air [5], Vision Airlines [6]

Charlotte County Airport

Location of Charlotte County Airport, Florida

Charlotte County Airport (IATA: PGD, ICAO: KPGD, FAA LID: PGD) is a public airport located 3 mi (5 km) southeast of the central business district of Punta Gorda, in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. It is owned by the Charlotte County Airport Authority.^[1]

Charlotte County Airport has mainly been used for deplanements of single engine and small jet aircraft, but has recently seen a heavy increase in schedule commercial airline service. The airport is home to the Florida International Air Show,^[7] an annual event which has featured various military demonstration teams, such as the United States Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the "Blue Angels"; the "U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds"; and the United States Army's "Sky Soldiers" (173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team) Cobra helicopter team.

Charlotte County Airport has serviced several commercial airline tenants throughout its existence, but saw no major commercial operations after the early 1980s in the aftermath of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Commercial operations again commenced at PGD in 2007 when both Skybus Airlines and DayJet began providing flights to and from the airport. Service by these airlines, however, proved to be temporary at best with Skybus and Dayjet ceasing operations on April 5th, 2008 and September 19th, 2008 (respectively).

Commercial service out of PGD once again resumed on November 22nd, 2008 when low-cost carrier Direct Air began twice weekly service to 10 destinations across the eastern US. On December 2, 2008 low-cost airline Allegiant Air also announced it would open a new focus city at PGD, and began service to Greenville, SC and Knoxville, TN on March 5, 2009. A third airline, Vision Airlines also commenced weekly flights to Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Destin on March 25, 2011. Vision has since allowed for ticketed flights from Punta Gorda to Atlanta, Savannah, and Asheville via the airline's Destin/Fort Walton Beach hub.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Allegiant Air	Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Knoxville, Lexington
Direct Air operated by various carriers	Allentown, Chicago/Rockford, Kalamazoo, Niagara Falls, Myrtle Beach, Plattsburgh, Springfield (IL), Toledo, Worcester
Direct Air operated by Vision Airlines	St Petersburg
Vision Airlines	Seasonal: Champaign [begins December 19], Louisville [Begins December 19]

Facilities and aircraft

Charlotte County Airport covers an area of 1,934 acres (783 ha) which contains three asphalt paved runways: 4/22 measuring 6,695 × 150 ft (2,041 × 46 m), 15/33 measuring 5,688 × 150 ft (1,734 × 46 m), and 9/27 measuring 2,630 × 60 ft (802 × 18 m).^[1]

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 74,743 aircraft operations, an average of 204 per day: 97% general aviation, 3% air taxi and <1% military. There are 295 aircraft based at this airport: 82% single-engine, 11% multi-engine, 2% jet, 2% helicopter and 2% ultralight.^[1]

World War II

In 1941, just prior to the beginning of World War II, the US Army Corps of Engineers planned and constructed an airfield on the current airport property as a combat pilot training base for the US Army Air Forces' Third Air Force, naming the facility Punta Gorda Army Airfield. By 1944, the base reached its peak in housing 1,000 personnel, including two squadrons of student pilots.

The base initially had forty Curtis P-40 Warhawk aircraft assigned, later transitioning to the North American P-51 Mustang aircraft. Pursuit (i.e., "fighter") aircraft training in the P-40 and P-51 represented advanced phase training for Army Air Forces fighter pilots prior to their being deployed with USAAF operational units in the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation. Punta Gorda Army Airfield was a subordinate command of 3rd Air Force, 3rd Fighter Command at Drew Field (now Tampa International Airport), and also had C-45 Expeditor and C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft assigned for support purposes.

All base officers and some senior non-commissioned officers lived in Punta Gorda, while all student officers and most enlisted men lived in tent structures on the base. Semi-permanent buildings included an operations headquarters, classrooms, supply building, fire station, dispensary, chapel and the control tower. The base also had nose dock hangars, where just the nose of the aircraft was under shelter for repairs.

Following the war, the US Government issued a Deed of Release transferring all of the fixtures and improvements situated on the property to the local jursidiction of Charlotte County.^{[citation needed]}

See also

	United States Air Force portal
	Military of the United States portal
	World War II portal

• List of Florida World War II Army Airfields

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

1. ^ ^{a b c d} FAA Airport Master Record for PGD (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-10-25
2. ^ Charlotte County Airport (official site)
3. ^ Airnav.com
4. ^ allegiantair.com
5. ^ visitdirectair.com
6. ^ visionairlines.com
7. ^ Florida International Air Show

External links

• Charlotte County Airport Brochure PDF (873 KiB)
• FAA Terminal Procedures for PGD, effective 20 October 2011
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KPGD
  • ASN accident history for PGD
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures for KPGD