Salina Municipal Airport

Salina Regional Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of Salina, a city in Saline County, Kansas, United States. The airport is owned by the Salina Airport Authority. It is mostly used for general aviation, but is also served by one commercial airline with scheduled passenger service subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 5,170 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 2,868 enplanements in 2009, and 3,144 in 2010. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a non-primary commercial service airport (between 2,500 and 10,000 enplanements per year).

Salina Regional Airport is also the home of the Kansas State University - Salina flight department.

Military use
The airport is located on the site of the former Schilling Air Force Base (also known as Smoky Hill Air Force Base).

Public use
The airport was used as the takeoff and landing point for the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, flown by Steve Fossett in the first nonstop, non-refueled solo circumnavigation of the earth from February 28 to March 3, 2005. Fossett also used the airport as the takeoff and landing point for a later nonstop and nonrefueled solo circumnavigation in the GlobalFlyer from March 14 to March 17, 2006 which set a new record for greatest distance traveled by an aircraft on a closed course.

Facilities and aircraft
Salina Regional Airport covers an area of 2,862 acres (1,158 ha) at an elevation of 1,288 feet (393 m) above mean sea level. It has four asphalt paved runways: 17/35 is 12,300 by 150 feet (3,749 x 46 m); 12/30 is 6,510 by 100 feet (1,984 x 30 m); 18/36 is 4,301 by 75 feet (1,311 x 23 m); 4/22 is 3,648 by 75 feet (1,112 x 23 m).

For the 12-month period ending January 30, 2012, the airport had 70,761 aircraft operations, an average of 193 per day: 66% general aviation, 28% air taxi, 6% military, and <1% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 106 aircraft based at this airport: 76% single-engine, 9% multi-engine, 2% jet, 5% helicopter, 3% glider, and 5% military.

Due to its location, just about the middle of the USA (48 states), many corporate and private jets stop here to fuel and allow passengers to, 'stretch their legs'.

Airline and destination
The following airline offers scheduled passenger service:

SeaPort Airlines is an FAA certified carrier that currently operates flights in nine states, including Arkansas, Tennessee, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. SeaPort Airlines is headquartered in Portland, Oregon; additional operating bases are located in Memphis, Tennessee and Juneau, Alaska. All service in Alaska is operated under their sister brand, Wings of Alaska.

Other sources

 * Essential Air Service documents (Docket DOT-OST-2002-11376) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
 * 90 Day Notice (January 23, 2002): from Midwest Express Inc., a Mesa Air Group subsidiary, of intent to discontinue scheduled non-subsidized Essential Air Service between Salina, Kansas, and Kansas City effective April 20, 2002.
 * Order 2002-3-31 (March 29, 2002): prohibiting Air Midwest, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, from terminting its unsubsidized service at Salina, Kansas; and requiring the carrier to maintain service between the community and Kansas City, Missouri, for an initial 30-day period following the end of the notice period; and requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing replacement service at the community.
 * Order 2004-2-14 (February 17, 2004): selects Air Midwest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) for a two-year period at Manhattan and Salina, Kansas, at a combined annual subsidy rate of $721,605.
 * Order 2006-3-15 (March 15, 2006): re-selecting Air Midwest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) for the two-year period beginning March 1, 2006, at Manhattan and Salina, Kansas, at a combined annual subsidy rate of $974,008.
 * Order 2007-12-25 (December 21, 2007): re-selecting Air Midwest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Manhattan and Salina, Kansas, for a total annual subsidy of $1,619,566 for the two-year period beginning March 1, 2008.
 * Order 2008-2-5 (February 1, 2008): prohibiting Air Midwest, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express from suspending its subsidized essential air services at Manhattan and Salina, Kansas, until Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. begins full replacement service, and selecting Great Lakes to provide those services for a new two-year period at an annual subsidy rate of $1,997,237.
 * Order 2009-11-25 (November 30, 2009): requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing essential air service (EAS) at Salina, Kansas, for the two-year period beginning April 1, 2010, with or without subsidy. With respect to this order, we are soliciting proposals for service to Salina only. In the past, the communities of Salina and Manhattan were handled under the same contract because the flights were historically routed Salina-Manhattan-Kansas City. However, on or about August 26, 2009, American Eagle inaugurated subsidy-free regional jet service from Dallas-Fort Worth to Manhattan.
 * Order 2010-3-17 (March 12, 2010): selecting SeaPort Airlines to provide essential air service (EAS) at Salina, Kansas, for a first-year annual subsidy of $1,489,435 and a second-year of $1,493,381 for the two-year period beginning when it inaugurates full EAS.
 * Order 2012-2-4 (February 3, 2012): re-selecting SeaPort Airlines Inc. to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) at Salina, Kansas, using 9-seat Pilatus PC-12 aircraft for the four-year period beginning April 1, 2012, through March 31, 2016, for an annual subsidy of $1,490,479.