Arcata-Eureka Airport

Arcata/Eureka Airport, also known as Arcata Airport, is a county owned, public use airport in Humboldt County, California, United States. It is located seven nautical miles (8 mi, 13 km) north of Arcata and 15 mi north of Eureka, in the unincorporated town of McKinleyville, California.

It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport. As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 106,637 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 102,440 enplanements in 2009, and 93,402 in 2010.

The airport is a federally designated port of entry for civil aircraft arriving in the United States. It is the largest airport (with the longest runway) on the Pacific Coast between the San Francisco Bay Area and Portland, Oregon. The airport is the site of the command center for and primary facilities and equipment of the United States Coast Guard Air Station Humboldt Bay, which provides rescue and law enforcement on the ocean and on land for the entire region north of the San Francisco Bay Area.

History
The airport was originally constructed by the United States Navy during World War II for the purpose of testing defogging systems for aircraft. It operated in support of the Naval Air Station Alameda as the Arcata Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) and served as headquarters for the Eureka section of naval local defense forces for the 12th Naval District.

In December 1947 a Southwest Airways Douglas DC-3 propliner flying into the airport made the world's first blind landing by a scheduled commercial airliner using Ground-Controlled Approach (GCA) radar, Instrument Landing System (ILS) devices and Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) oil-burning units adjacent to the runway. By the following year the airline had made 1,200 routine instrument landings at the often fog-shrouded airport.

For 2005, the Arcata-Eureka Airport serviced 102,000 arriving commercial passengers and 104,000 departing on 4,370 departing flights. Horizon carried 66.29% of the passengers with United carrying the remainder. 78% of the 2005 flights departed on time and 79% of the arriving flights were on time. In addition to passenger traffic, the airport shipped 457,000 pounds (207,291 kg) of cargo.

Current use is now a mixture of general and commercial aviation with one commercial airline providing scheduled service: United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines. In the past, ACV was served commercially by Eureka Aero (mid-1970s) (Eureka, Crescent City), American Eagle (San Jose), Pacific Air Lines (San Francisco), Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) (San Francisco), Horizon Air (from 1994-2011) (Redding, Portland, Los Angeles and briefly Seattle), Delta Connection (2009–2010) operated by SkyWest Airlines (Salt Lake City), Hughes Airwest and predecessor Air West (Crescent City, Medford, San Francisco, Eugene, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle); United Airlines (San Francisco), WestAir operating as United Express (San Francisco), and Arcata Flying Service (early 1980s) (Redding, Portland, and Oakland).

Arcata/Eureka Airport had scheduled passenger jet service provided by six airlines at various times. Pacific Air Lines operated Boeing 727-100 jetliners nonstop to San Francisco with direct service to Los Angeles while Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and WestAir operating as United Express flew British Aerospace BAe 146-200 jets nonstop to San Francisco. United Airlines served the airport with Boeing 737-200 flights to San Francisco as well. SkyWest operating as the Delta Connection flew Canadair CRJ-200 regional jets to Salt Lake City. Hughes Airwest, which previously operated as Air West, flew Douglas DC-9-10 and DC-9-30 jetliners nonstop to San Francisco and also direct to Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle and other destinations. Hughes Airwest even had direct, no change of plane Douglas DC-9 jet service to Mazatlan and Guadalajara in Mexico at one point from the airport. The flight number for this direct international jet service from Arcata/Eureka was Hughes Airwest flight 1. Pacific Air Lines was the first air carrier to introduce jet service into the airport with new Boeing 727-100 aircraft during the late 1960s. Pacific then merged with Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines to form Air West which was subsequently renamed Hughes Airwest.

Currently, only SkyWest Airlines operating as United Express serves the airport. This feeder service for United is flown with Embraer EMB-120 "Brasilia" turboprop aircraft.

Facilities and aircraft
Arcata Airport covers an area of 745 acres (301 ha) at an elevation of 222 feet (68 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways with asphalt surfaces: 14/32 is 6,046 by 150 feet (1,843 x 46 m) and 1/19 is 4,501 by 150 feet (1,372 x 46 m).

Being on the Pacific coast of California, the airport falls under the jurisdiction of the California Coastal Commission and major changes to the airport such as rezoning or fencing in the airport require approval by the Commission.

The approach flight path for runway 32 passes over Central Avenue, a highly travelled road in the area. The strobe lights that direct planes onto the runway were creating a visual hazard for drivers on Central Avenue as the lights were creating a glare. The problem was especially noticeable during inclement weather when the strobes' intensity was increased and the roadways were reflective from water on the surface. The Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Aviation Research, Airport Technology Research and Development Branch responded to the hazard by installing baffles on the strobes that block the lights from shining on the road while still providing visual guidance for aircraft.

For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2011, the airport had 48,164 aircraft operations, an average of 131 per day: 53.5% military, 22% general aviation, 20% air taxi, and 4.5% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 11 aircraft based at this airport: 36% multi-engine, 27% single-engine, 27% military, and 9% jet.

Airlines and destinations
Airlines with scheduled passenger service to non-stop destinations:

Ground transportation

 * Airport transit bus stop times - service by Redwood Transit System
 * For taxi and rental car information, see Humboldt County Convention and Visitor's Bureau page

Other local airports

 * Eureka Municipal Airport
 * Kneeland Airport - located ten miles (16 km) southeast of Eureka
 * Murray Field - located in Eureka