Orlando Sanford International Airport

Last updated

Orlando Sanford International Airport
Orlando Sanford International Airport logo.svg
Orlando Sanford International Airport.jpg
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerSanford Airport Authority
OperatorAirports Worldwide, Inc.
Serves Greater Orlando
Location Sanford, Florida
OpenedNovember 3, 1942;81 years ago (1942-11-03)
Operating base for Allegiant Air
Elevation  AMSL 55 ft / 17 m
Coordinates 28°46′40″N081°14′15″W / 28.77778°N 81.23750°W / 28.77778; -81.23750
Website www.flysfb.com
Maps
KSFB airport diagram.pdf
FAA airport diagram
Orlando Sanford International Airport
Runways
Direction LengthSurface
ftm
9C/27C3,5781,091Asphalt
9L/27R11,0023,353Asphalt
9R/27L5,8391,780Asphalt
18/366,0021,829Asphalt/concrete
Statistics (2023)
Aircraft operations268,659
Total passengers2,941,456
Based aircraft (2021)295

Orlando Sanford International Airport( IATA : SFB, ICAO : KSFB, FAA LID : SFB) is in Sanford, Florida, United States, near Orlando. It was built as Naval Air Station Sanford, a Master Jet Base for carrier-based attack and reconnaissance aircraft, and was used by the U.S. Navy until 1969. The airport is owned and operated by the Sanford Airport Authority. It serves as an operating base for Allegiant Air.

Contents

Sanford is Orlando's secondary commercial airport, but is farther away from downtown Orlando and Walt Disney World than the primary airport, Orlando International Airport (MCO/KMCO). Because of the affiliation with Orlando, passenger traffic at Sanford was once dominated by European charter services. [3]

Since 2008, however, a majority of its passenger traffic has been domestic; this is attributable to the entrance of Las Vegas–based Allegiant Air, for which Sanford is a focus city. [4] Sanford was also a small focus city for the travel marketer Direct Air until the company's demise in 2012.

History

Orlando Sanford International Airport started life as Naval Air Station Sanford with the airport codes NRJ and KNRJ. Commissioned on November 3, 1942, the base initially concentrated on advanced land-based patrol plane training. It was used by the United States Navy until it closed in 1969.

Orlando Sanford International Airport

The City of Sanford assumed control of the former NAS Sanford in 1969 and renamed the facility Sanford Airport, hiring the air station's recently retired Executive Officer, Commander J. S. "Red" Cleveland, USN (Ret.), as the first Airport Manager. The city concurrently established the Sanford Airport Authority. For the next twenty-five years, the airport was a general aviation facility and periodically hosted civilian/military air shows and static displays. Initially an uncontrolled airfield, the control tower was reactivated in the early 1970s as a non-FAA facility, employing a number of retired enlisted Navy air traffic controllers who had served at NAS Sanford.

Additional name changes followed, to include Sanford Regional Airport, Central Florida Regional Airport, Orlando Sanford Regional Airport and the current Orlando Sanford International Airport. Through the 1980s and 1990s the oldest Navy buildings were demolished while those built in the 1950s and 1960s were renovated for civil use. New buildings and hangars were added.

OLF Osceola was transferred to the control of Seminole County, Florida, but was never officially recommissioned as an active airfield. In the 1970s the former OLF began to be used by general aviation drug-smuggling aircraft as a transshipment point. Following a major drug interdiction by local and federal law enforcement agencies, Seminole County placed large speed bumps at various intervals across the runways to deter future illegal use. By the 1980s the county began to use the site as a landfill and dump, demolishing the remaining runways. [5]

1990s

In 1992, parts of the action film Passenger 57 , starring Wesley Snipes, were filmed at the then-Orlando Sanford Regional Airport, where it represented a small airport in Louisiana. Shortly after filming, a new control tower was built and air traffic control operations assumed by the FAA. The Navy control tower and the large Navy hangar to which it was attached were demolished.

In the mid-1990s, a new passenger terminal capable of accommodating jet airliners was built. Charter airlines catering to the heavy British tourist demographic that had previously been using Orlando International Airport were offered greatly reduced landing fees at Sanford, and therefore many carriers relocated their operations.

In 1996 Michael Jackson and his team did the first rehearsals of the HIStory World Tour between July and August 1996 before going to Prague.

2010 - present

An An-124 uploads cargo at Orlando-Sanford Airport in July 2015. AN124SFB2015.jpg
An An-124 uploads cargo at Orlando-Sanford Airport in July 2015.

In 2010, Allegiant Air announced it was moving many flights to the larger and more centrally located Orlando International Airport in order to compete with AirTran Airways. Owing to passenger feedback, all flights have returned to Orlando Sanford.

In 2014, Thomas Cook Airlines moved their operations back to Orlando International Airport after almost a decade of serving Orlando Sanford with the operations of Airtours, JMC Air & My Travel. In September 2019, Thomas Cook ceased all operations.

Icelandair moved to Orlando International Airport in 2015. [6]

In October 2017, Monarch Airlines ceased operations, after entering administration, therefore resulting in the termination of their flights to Sanford. All flights were operated using their Airbus A330 and served London Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow International.

In April 2016, Interjet operated flights to Mexico City. It later switched operations to the main Orlando airport from May 2018. [7] [8]

In 2017, Thomson Airways (now TUI Airways) began operating routes to UK airports. This was the largest international airline at the airport having served eight destinations around the UK. However, in November 2019, TUI Airways announced that from 2022, it would switch their Orlando operations from Sanford to Melbourne Orlando International Airport including the daily flights to/from those 8 British airports. This will bring their operations nearer to Port Canaveral where TUI Cruises will operate from in coming years. As a package holiday company this brings passengers closer to their cruises, although it has angered many TUI passengers who fly with the company to visit Orlando for Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort. [9]

In July 2021, Canadian low-cost carrier Flair Airlines announced they would launch service between Sanford and five Canadian destinations beginning in winter 2021.

The airport is home to L3 Harris Airline Academy, which underwent several company changes and several name changes. The academy used to be known as L3 Commercial Training Solutions, Aerosim Flight Academy, and Delta Connection Academy, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. It provides ab initio flight training for prospective regional airline and international pilots. The Seminole County Sheriff's Office has a hangar and support facility for aviation elements of the agency's Special Operations Division.

Facilities

The airport covers 3,000 acres (1,214 ha) and has four runways: [1] [10]

The dominant runway is 9L/27R. This was built from the naval air station's original Runway 9/27, which was 8,000 ft (2,400 m) x 200 ft (61 m) with overruns of 2,145 ft (654 m) and 1,985 ft (605 m). A project to extended runway 9L/27R by 1,400 ft (430 m) to 11,000 ft (3,400 m) was completed on April 1, 2013. Parallel Runways 9C/27C and 9R/27L were built later, the former on a previous taxiway and the latter all-new, for small aircraft. The airport also has Runway 18/36, another Navy runway, for rare northerly fronts in the winter, but this 6000-ft runway is rarely used by airliners.

On December 31, 2019, there were 326 aircraft based at this airport: 221 single-engine, 53 multi-engine, 48 jet and 4 helicopters. [1]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Allegiant Air Akron/Canton, Albany, Allentown, Appleton, Asheville, Austin, Bangor, Belleville/St. Louis, Bloomington/Normal, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Charlotte/Concord, Chattanooga, Chicago/Rockford, Cincinnati, Clarksburg, Columbus–Rickenbacker, Dayton, Des Moines, Elmira, Evansville, Fayetteville/Bentonville, Flint, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Greenville/Spartanburg, Hagerstown, Harrisburg, Huntington, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Key West, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Lexington, Little Rock, Louisville, Memphis, Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Peoria, Pittsburgh, Plattsburgh, Portsmouth, Provo, Rapid City (begins May 15, 2024), [11] Richmond, Roanoke, Rochester (NY), San Antonio, Sioux Falls, South Bend, Springfield/Branson, Syracuse, Toledo, Tri-Cities (TN), Tulsa
Seasonal: Bismarck, El Paso, Fargo, Grand Forks, Greensboro, McAllen, Minot, [12] Moline/Quad Cities, Nashville, Shreveport, Traverse City, Wichita
Flair Airlines Seasonal: Kitchener/Waterloo, London (ON), Ottawa, Saint John (NB), Toronto–Pearson, Windsor, Winnipeg
Destinations map

Statistics

Top destinations

Busiest domestic routes from SFB (October 2022 – September 2023) [13]
RankCityPassengersCarriers
1 Flag of Pennsylvania.svg Allentown, Pennsylvania 92,000Allegiant
2 Flag of Tennessee.svg Knoxville, Tennessee 79,000Allegiant
3 Flag of North Carolina.svg Asheville, North Carolina 70,000Allegiant
4 Flag of Michigan.svg Grand Rapids, Michigan 55,000Allegiant
5 Flag of Kentucky.svg Cincinnati, Ohio 52,000Allegiant
6 Flag of Michigan.svg Flint, Michigan 39,000Allegiant
7 Flag of Pennsylvania.svg Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 39,000Allegiant
8 Flag of Indiana.svg Indianapolis, Indiana 35,000Allegiant
9 Flag of North Carolina.svg Concord, North Carolina 31,000Allegiant
10 Flag of Kentucky.svg Lexington, Kentucky 29,000Allegiant

Annual traffic

Annual passenger traffic at SFB airport. See Wikidata query.
Annual passenger traffic (enplaned + deplaned) at SFB, 1995-present [4]
YearPassengersYearPassengersYearPassengersYearPassengers
20001,086,63520101,165,43520201,545,041
20011,222,39120111,577,30720212,396,108
20021,263,66220121,815,72920222,801,478
20031,253,86220132,032,68020232,941,456
20041,834,31520142,184,701
199548,18620051,649,23720152,480,122
1996669,57620061,645,98920162,752,410
19971,044,49620071,780,49520172,922,446
19981,198,80320081,837,24720183,094,487
1999939,96220091,702,41220193,291,112

Accidents and incidents

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References

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