Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (IATA: VPS, ICAO: KVPS, FAA LID: VPS) is an airport within Eglin Air Force Base, near Destin and Fort Walton Beach in Okaloosa County, Florida. No private aircraft are allowed, so Destin Executive Airport is used for non-commercial operations. The airport was called Northwest Florida Regional Airport until February 17, 2015 and Okaloosa Regional Airport until September 2008.
Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport is served by the regional airline affiliates of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways which fly nonstop regional jets to hubs in the southern and eastern United States. Delta Air Lines mainline jets also fly to its hub in Atlanta. In 2008 the FAA recorded over 373,808 enplanements at the airport.
History
1957: The Okaloosa County Air Terminal opened on Eglin Air Force Base in building 89 with 3 personnel (Airport Manager, Security and Admin Support). Southern Airways was the only passenger airline, with Douglas DC-3s direct to Atlanta via several stops. Passengers entered the base through the East Gate near Valparaiso, thus the airport code of VPS. Southern would later upgrade their service into the airport with 40-passenger Martin 404 propliners before initiating the first scheduled passenger jet flights at VPS.
1967: Southern Airways introduced Douglas DC-9-10 jetliner service into VPS becoming the first airline to do so.
1968: According to the Sept. 3, 1968 Southern Airways system timetable, the airline was operating daily nonstop DC-9 jet service to Atlanta and New Orleans with direct, no change of plane DC-9 jet flights twice a day to New York LaGuardia Airport and Washington D.C. Dulles Airport via intermediate stops in Dothan, AL and Columbus, GA.
February 1975: The new James E. Plew Terminal Building of the Okaloosa Air Terminal, on State Road 85, opened in mid-February 1975, with dedication on 22 February. Congressman Bob Sikes and Southern Airways President Frank Hulse were some of the speakers. The 32,000 sq ft (3,000 m2) facility cost $1.7 million. Federal grants totaled $472,000, state $80,000, Okaloosa County bond sale $1.1 million, and Southern Airways $190,000. First year enplaned passengers totaled 97,000 with Southern Airways as the sole airline serving VPS with 12 departing flights daily.
1979: On July 1, 1979 Southern Airways merged with North Central Airlines to form Republic Airlines. In July 1979 Republic flew Douglas DC-9s nonstop from VPS to Atlanta, GA; Dothan, AL; Mobile, AL; New Orleans, LA; Orlando, FL and Tallahassee, FL. Republic also operated direct DC-9s to Baton Rouge, LA; Chicago, IL (O'Hare Airport), Fort Lauderdale, FL; Memphis, TN; Monroe, LA; New York (LaGuardia Airport) and Washington D.C. (Dulles Airport). Prior to the merger Southern flew all of these nonstop and direct DC-9 routes as well and also operated direct DC-9 jet service to Birmingham, AL; Miami, FL and Nashville, TN.
1980's: At the beginning of the 1980s, only Republic Airlines was operating nonstop service between VPS and Atlanta. Republic was operating DC-9-10, DC-9-30 and DC-9-50 jets on the route. As the decade progressed, Delta Air Lines and Eastern Air Lines both added nonstop service between the airport and Atlanta via their respective regional airline code sharing partners, Delta Connection and Eastern Metro Express, both of which operated turboprop aircraft into VPS. The Delta Connection service was flown by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) operating de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 and Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops. The Eastern Metro Express service was flown by Metro Airlines operating British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 and de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100 Dash 8 turboprops. Air New Orleans, a commuter airline, also served VPS during the 1980s with commuter aircraft such as the Beechcraft C99 turboprop and Piper prop aircraft. Destinations served by Air New Orleans from VPS included Birmingham, AL; Mobile, AL; New Orleans, LA; Orlando, FL; Panama City, FL; Pensacola, FL and Tampa, FL.
1986-1987: On October 1, 1986 Northwest Airlines completed its merger with Republic Airlines. Northwest flew one route from VPS: nonstop to Memphis, a Northwest hub. By September 1987 Northwest had four nonstops a day to Memphis with stretched McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 and DC-9-50s. Later Northwest would reduce its schedule from VPS to three daily DC-9s nonstop to Memphis. No other airline flew jets into VPS until Valujet/Airtran appeared in the 1990s.
1998: AirTran Airways was serving the airport at this time with jet service. According to the August 1, 1998 AirTran system timetable, two nonstop flights a day were operated to Atlanta with direct, one stop service once a day to Washington, D.C. Dulles Airport. AirTran operated stretched McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jetliners into VPS. However, by the end of 2001, AirTran had ceased all service into the airport after commencing service to Pensacola.
November 2004: The current Northwest Florida Regional Airport opened its doors following an expansion with more parking, a larger aircraft parking apron, a second parallel taxiway, landscaping and a new 110,000 sq ft (10,000 m2) passenger terminal.
January 2008: Ground was broken for the Consolidated Rental Car Service Facility located on 22 acres (89,000 m2) east of the airport. This facility will have offices for five rental car companies and rental car service facilities with hydraulic lifts, automated car washes, gas pumps and vacuum islands and a consolidated fuel farm for aviation and unleaded gasoline. A cargo facility and new offices for airport maintenance will be built to the east of the terminal.
May 2009: The Consolidated Rental Car Service Facility opened on a new 22-acre (89,000 m2) leasehold just east of the main terminal. This $14M project came in on time and under budget and was funded with rental car user fees.
January 2010: Delta Air Lines completed its merger with Northwest Airlines on January 31, 2010. Delta then scaled back the Northwest hub operation in Memphis, and service between VPS and MEM was discontinued in favor of nonstop flights to Delta's hub in Atlanta.
2011: Vision Airlines began a small scheduled passenger hub operation at VPS with flights to Asheville, NC; Atlanta, GA; Baton Rouge, LA; Columbia, SC; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Fort Myers, FL; Greenville/Spartanburg, SC; Huntsville, AL; Knoxville, TN; Lafayette, LA; Las Vegas, NV; Little Rock, AR; Louisville, KY; Sanford/Orlando, FL; Savannah, GA; Shreveport, LA; St. Louis, MO; and St. Petersburg, FL. Vision flew Boeing 737 jetliners and Dornier 328 turboprops. Vision later ended all flights at the airport and shut down its VPS hub.
February 17, 2015: Northwest Florida Regional Airport changed it's name as a 3-2 vote.
Facilities
Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport and Eglin AFB share two runways: 12/30 is 11,987 x 300 ft (3,654 x 91 m) asphalt/concrete and 1/19 is 10,001 x 300 ft (3,048 x 91 m) asphalt. In the year ending March 31, 2006 the airport had 126,060 aircraft operations, average 345 per day: 71% military, 19% airline, 8% general aviation and 2% air taxi.
The airport has a 116,000 ft² passenger terminal with five second-level gates with passenger jet ways and three ground-level commuter gates with passenger jet ways.
The terminal is a two-level, 116,000 square foot facility opened in November 2004. The old terminal building was demolished soon after. The terminal has areas for ticketing and baggage claim and upper and lower courses with gates. The first level has Gates A1, A2, and A3 and waiting areas and concessions. The second-level concourse has Gates B1, B2, and B3 and a restaurant and concession areas. The terminal was designed to allow future expansion. The Northwest Florida Regional Airport Master Plan Update says a project to extend the concourse 120 feet and add three gates is under consideration (2010).
Access to the terminal is off of State Road 85. Parking facilities are to the left, the terminal or loop is straight ahead and rental car return is to the right. The airport loop road has two pass-through lanes on the left and three arrival-departure lanes in front of the terminal. The loop road is a two-lane asphalt roadway about ¾ mile long. Short-term and long-term parking facilities are available. The parking facilities were improved in the early 2000s as part of the new terminal expansion. These were designed with the Transportation Security Administration's "300-foot rule" in mind, and satisfy the 300-foot distance between parked vehicles and the terminal building.
Okaloosa County owns and operates the airport terminal, which is on 131 acres of Eglin AFB property that is lease from the U.S. Department of the Air Force. The property is leased until 2031 and limits aircraft operations at 80 per day. It is unique in that the county staffs the airport, yet it leases the property from the USAF. Okaloosa County Commission serves as a policy board and hires the airport staff.
Greg Donovan, A.A.E. was VPS's Airport Director until 2013. The current Director of Airports is Sunil Harman, A.A.E., IAP.
Airlines and destinations
Delta Air Lines is the only airline currently flying mainline jets into the airport with Airbus A319, Boeing 717 and McDonnell Douglas MD-88 jetliners. Delta Connection flies Canadair CRJ-200s and Canadair CRJ-700s from VPS as well. Other airlines serving the airport operate Canadair CRJ or Embraer ERJ regional jets. As a result of the US Airways/American Airlines merger, service between VPS and Reagan National in Washington, D.C. (DCA) was discontinued in early 2014.
Top destinations
References
External links
- Northwest Florida Regional Airport, official site
- Eglin Air Force Base, official site
- Northwest Florida Regional Airport Shuttle Service., Ground Transportation to VPS
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective April 30, 2015
- FAA Terminal Procedures for VPS, effective April 30, 2015
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for VPS
- AirNav airport information for KVPS
- ASN accident history for VPS
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures
- Northwest Florida Regional Airport Shuttle Service., Ground Transportation Shuttles
Interesting Informations
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