Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (IATA: CHA, ICAO: KCHA, FAA LID: CHA), also known as Lovell Field, is a public airport located five miles (8 km) east of the central business district of Chattanooga, a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The airport is owned and operated by the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority. It is a Class C airport serviced by Chattanooga Approach.
Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport has a single concourse with five gates. Commercial service is provided by United Express, Delta Air Lines, American Eagle, and Allegiant Air. General aviation is serviced by Wilson Air Center FBO. The general aviation ramp is split into two locations, with one on the South side of the main terminal, and the other to the North. The locations are respectively referred to as "Air North" and "Air South." General aviation can find service at either location. In August 2011, Wilson Air Center opened up a facility on the west side of the field.
Currently, a flight from Chattanooga to Atlanta can take 18 minutes (from wheels up to wheels down) flying on a Canadair Regional Jet (operated by Delta Connection) or Delta Air Lines MD-80. When flight operations in Atlanta are interrupted, Chattanooga is one of the first airports to receive diversions.
It has been proposed that a new high-speed rail line be constructed from the airport to MARTA in metro Atlanta, so that it could easily serve as Atlanta's second airport.
Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport was home to the 241st Engineering Installation Squadron (241 EIS) of the Tennessee Air National Guard until late 2010, when the squadron moved to a Bonny Oaks facility near the airport.
Video Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport
History
The first scheduled air carrier operation in Tennessee took place in Chattanooga in 1928 at Marr Field, dedicated in December 1919, named for Walter L. Marr, and located off present-day Amnicola Highway. Chattanooga was a stopover on the Contract Air Mail route served by Interstate Airlines between Atlanta, Georgia and Chicago, Illinois. Charles Lindbergh, the world-famous aviator who had piloted the Spirit of St. Louis over the Atlantic Ocean in May 1927, flew into Marr Field on October 5, 1927.
In 1930, due to the interest and foresight of John Lovell, a new Chattanooga Airport was established with an unpaved runway at its present location and was named Lovell Field in his honor. In 1936, the landing area was expanded and runways paved as a part of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration (WPA). The original terminal building was also built at that time.
During World War II, Lovell Field served as a military training facility.
Post-war growth in aviation in the 1950s led to a transfer of the airport's operations to the City of Chattanooga and significant airport expansion with construction of a new runway, which serves as the primary runway today. The original terminal building, dating from the 1930s, was expanded in 1950 and 1955 by the city before being replaced by a new terminal building in 1964.
The Airport's ownership was transferred from Chattanooga to the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority (CMAA) in July 1985.
The current passenger terminal, designed by Gensler, opened in 1992.
Maps Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport
Facilities and aircraft
Lovell Field covers an area of 950 acres (380 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 2/20 measuring 7,400 x 150 ft (2,256 x 46 m) and 15/33 measuring 5,575 x 150 ft (1,699 x 46 m).
The largest aircraft currently serving the airport are the MD-80 series operated by Allegiant Air and Delta Air Lines. Delta had flown a regular mainline service for 48 years until withdrawing the service in 1995 in favor of its affiliates like Atlantic Southeast Airlines operating smaller regional jets, such as the CRJ-200, until deciding to reintroduce the service in the form of a DC-9 jet to Chattanooga in September 2012.
For the 12-month period ending July 31, 2014, the airport had 55,497 aircraft operations, an average of 152 per day: 54% general aviation, 30% air taxi, 13% military and 3% scheduled commercial. There are 96 aircraft based at this airport: 51% jet, 36% single-engine, 12% multi-engine and 1% helicopter.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
Statistics
Top Destinations
Accidents and incidents
On November 11, 1972, Southern Airways Flight 49, a hijacked McDonnell Douglas DC-9 with 31 passengers and 3 crew members aboard, landed at Lovell Field from Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport to pick up $10 million that three hijackers had demanded. After picking up the ransom money, which actually amounted to between $2 million and $2.5 million, the plane took off, bound for Havana, Cuba.
On November 27, 1973, Delta Air Lines Flight 516, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, crashed short of the runway on approach to the airport. None of the 79 passengers and crew were injured in the incident, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
References
External links
- Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (official web site)
- Lovell Field page at Tennessee DOT Airport Directory
- FAA Airport Diagram for Lovell Field (PDF), effective July 19, 2018
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KCHA
- ASN accident history for CHA
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KCHA
- FAA current CHA delay information
Source of article : Wikipedia
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