Blue Grass Airport

Coordinates: 38°02′11″N 084°36′21″W / 38.03639°N 84.60583°W / 38.03639; -84.60583
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Blue Grass Airport
FAA airport diagram
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
4/22 7,004 2,135 Asphalt
9/27 4,000 1,219 Concrete
Statistics (2023)
Passenger volume1,354,136
Departing passengers681,611
Commercial aircraft operations17,720
Based aircraft (2021)169
Source: Blue Grass Airport,[1] Federal Aviation Administration,[2] BTS[3]

Blue Grass Airport (

Keeneland Race Course, Blue Grass Airport is the primary airport serving central and eastern Kentucky. More than 1.3 million passengers depart or arrive annually at Blue Grass Airport. In 2017, the airport served 1,316,847 passengers via four major airline carriers: Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.[4]

Features and facilities

Facilities

The airport covers 911 acres (3.69 km2) and has two runways.[2][5] On August 4, 2010, a new 4,000 foot runway, 9/27, opened replacing the previous 3,500 foot runway, 8/26.[6] The previous runway, which is in a similar location as the new runway except that it overlapped runway 22, was removed after a 2006 crash of a Delta Connection flight, during which all aboard except the co-pilot were killed after an attempted take-off from the wrong, shorter runway.[7] Blue Grass Airport is home to the Aviation Museum of Kentucky, which features more than 25,000 square feet of exhibit space displaying restored aircraft and memorabilia. The current main terminal building opened in 1977. On April 18, 2007, Blue Grass Airport opened an extension of Concourse B, adding six boarding gates with four new jet bridges.

Law enforcement and fire protection

This airport is protected by the Blue Grass Airport Department of Public Safety, located at 4101 Aviator Road, approximately the middle of the airport. This is an Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) facility with five apparatus bays, administration and operations, on-site residential living quarters, classroom-style training and physical training facilities, and a flight line watch room.[8] The apparatus bays are located on the level aligned with the airfield, along with the frequently used spaces are located as close as possible to the apparatus bays to minimize response times. All of the DPS officers are trained and certified in law enforcement, firefighting, and EMS. Officers of the DPS work shifts of 24-on and 48-off, which is a typical firefighter's shift. During the 24-hour work shift, they perform all aspects of public safety - law enforcement, firefighting, and EMS.[9] They are required to have 100 hours of fire training every year on top of the 40 hours of law enforcement training each year.

Economic impact

Blue Grass Airport is a catalyst for economic growth in the region, contributing to both the Lexington area and other parts of Kentucky. The airport is an important component of Lexington's economy, providing 3,478 jobs for Lexington and an annual economic impact of $370 million.

U.S. Customs
, charter flights, aircraft maintenance, hangars, and flight instruction.

Passenger numbers

The airport is the third busiest airport in Kentucky, behind Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (9.1 million passengers/year) and Louisville International Airport (4.2 million passengers/year).

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinationsRefs
Allegiant Air Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Orlando/Sanford, Punta Gorda (FL), St. Petersburg/Clearwater
Seasonal: Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Myrtle Beach
[11]
Dallas/Fort Worth
[12]
Dallas/Fort Worth, Philadelphia
Seasonal: Miami[13]
[12]
Delta Air Lines Atlanta [14]
Delta Connection Atlanta, Detroit, Washington–National [14]
United Express Chicago–O'Hare, Denver[15] [16]

Destinations map

Statistics

Top destinations

Busiest domestic routes from LEX (November 2022 - October 2023)[3]
Rank Airport Passengers Carriers
1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta, Georgia 194,000 Delta
2 North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina 102,000 American
3
Chicago, Illinois
88,000 American, United
4
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
76,000 American
5 Michigan Detroit, Michigan 41,000 Delta
6 Florida Orlando–Sanford, Florida 31,000 Allegiant
7
St. Petersburg, Florida
26,000 Allegiant
8 Florida Punta Gorda, Florida 22,000 Allegiant
9 Florida Fort Lauderdale, Florida 19,000 Allegiant
10 Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 15,000 American

Airline market share

Largest airlines at LEX
(April 2022 - March 2023)
[3]
Rank Airline Passengers Share
1 Delta Air Lines 355,000 27.66%
2 Allegiant Air 217,000 16.92%
3 PSA Airlines 195,000 15.22%
4 SkyWest Airlines 105,000 8.14%
5 American Airlines 95,940 7.47%
Other 316,000 24.58%

History

Blue Grass Airport began as a municipal airfield that was developed with the assistance of the Federal Civil Works Administration as part of a state-wide airport development policy in 1933. The town share for construction was $1,362 with a portion of $22,427 spent in Lexington overall.[17] Blue Grass Airport opened with a star-shaped layout. In World War II it was used by pilots training at Bowman for dead-stick landing practice in preparation for glider assaults.[18]

The original airport logo was designed by a student who attended and graduated from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Jill Reiling Markey (class of 1978) designed the logo in 1976. The current logo is based on Dr. Markey's design. For her efforts, Dr. Markey was awarded the Commission of Kentucky Colonel by then Governor Julian M. Carroll in 1976.[19]

Accidents and incidents

Popular culture

Bluegrass Field was Auric Goldfinger's flight destination in the James Bond film Goldfinger.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Blue Grass Airport Passenger Stats for 2023" (PDF). bluegrassairport.com. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  2. ^
    PDF
    , effective February 23, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Blue Grass Airport". Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  4. ^ Blue Grass Airport Passenger Statistics
  5. ^ "LEX airport data at skyvector.com". skyvector.com. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  6. ^ 2013 Passenger Statistics Archived 2014-05-19 at the Wayback Machine Blue Grass Airport. Retrieved 2014-05-19
  7. ^ "Blue Grass Airport has undergone many changes since crash of Flight 5191".
  8. ^ "Bluegrass International Airport Public Safety Facility". CR Architects. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  9. ^ "Eyes in the Sky". Kentucky Law Enforcement. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  10. ^ Blue Grass Airport Economic Impact Study 2011
  11. ^ "Allegiant Interactive Route Map". Allegiantair.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Flight schedules and notifications". Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  13. ^ "Palm trees and 80 degrees: American Airlines adds more ways to visit Miami with record-breaking winter schedule". American Airlines Newsroom. July 13, 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  14. ^ a b "FLIGHT SCHEDULES". Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  15. ^ "United Expands Role as Denver's Most Flown Airline: Adds 35 Flights, Six Routes, 12 Gates, New Flight Bank and Three Clubs". Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  16. ^ "Timetable". Archived from the original on 28 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  17. ^ City of Lexington Proposed Budget 1934
  18. ^ James A Clark Jr. Jim Clark Soldier Farmer Legislator. p. 45.
  19. ^ Letter of acknowledgement from Dr. George M. Gumbert, Jr., Chairman, Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Board to Jill Reiling Markey.
  20. Aviation Safety Network
    . Retrieved on October 29, 2020.
  21. ^ "NTSB Probable Cause Report ATL88MA053". National Traffic Safety Board. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  22. ^ "2 Killed, 4 Injured in Kentucky Plane Crash". The Dallas Morning News. 1987-12-06.
  23. ^ "NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System report #256788". NASA. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
  24. ^ "NTSB Probable Cause Report NYC02FA177". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  25. ^ "NTSB Preliminary Report ERA09FA215". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  26. ^ Evans, Tamara. "Problem with NASCAR driver's plane causes scare at airport". Archived from the original on 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  27. ^ WKYT. "Plane skids off runway at Blue Grass Airport, no injuries reported". Retrieved 2018-05-20.
  28. ^ "Goldfinger Script - transcript from the screenplay and/or James Bond movie". script-o-rama.com.

External links