The City of St. George in southern Utah, headquarters of SkyWest Airlines, opened a new airport Jan. 12 that will serve as an economic driver for the region known to many around the world as a preferred site for western movies.
The 9,300-ft.-long Runway 1/19 in a nearby valley replaces a 6,606-ft.-long ribbon perched on a mesa overlooking the bustling small community of St. George. The old St. George Municipal Airport has been useful, but its location high over the desert terrain has crimped any plans to expand and has restricted jet aircraft operations. The city launched a replacement plan in the mid-1990s and has been overseeing construction since 2008.
The restriction against passenger jet aircraft limited SkyWest to operating Embraer 120s into St. George. Daily regional jet service into the new airport by SkyWest will start Jan. 13, connecting the new St. George Municipal with Salt Lake City. Daily flights to Los Angeles are scheduled to start in March.
SkyWest, founded in 1972, is one of the U.S.’s top airlines in terms of passengers and departures. In 2009, it carried 21.3 million passengers. Its owned stable mate, Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASE), counted another 13.2 million passengers. In addition, SkyWest last year acquired ExpressJet.
The airline’s average number of daily departures total more than 1,800, while ASE has 957 each day. Most of these flights are in partnership with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. SkyWest counts 294 aircraft in its fleet, including 48 Embraer 120s. ASE operates 160 aircraft.
Officials at St. George, long known as a retirement community, believe the new airport is a harbinger of fresh economic growth. The FAA agrees. It is predicting a 23% increase in aircraft operations by 2020 and a whopping 81% growth in passenger traffic. That forecast includes normal expected constraints on growth, as government documents put it. The FAA picked up $100 million of the $160-million price tag for the airport and the terminal building.
The new airport is surrounded by land that the city believes will attract new business and industry. The airfield itself has ample space for aviation development.
The St. George area is referred to as Dixie because of its southern location. The city and new airport are located about 26 mi. from Zion National Park and not far from Moab, which film director John Ford made famous with his westerns.
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