A relief airport or reliever airport is an airport that is built or designated to provide relief or additional capacity to an area when the primary commercial airport(s) requires additional capacity, on a long-term or temporary basis.
Reliever airports also relieves the need for capacity by relocating non-jet general aviation activity from a commercial airport to a different facility.
By removing aircraft with lower capacities and slower speeds, the commercial service airport is able to operate more flights with larger aircraft and handle more passengers increasing the efficiency with minimal additional cost in facilities. This also spreads out the aircraft over a wider area generally improving air traffic in the entire community.
In the United States, for an airport to qualify as a FAA-designated reliever, it must have 100 or more based aircraft or 25,000 annual itinerant operations. [1]
Ellington Airport is a public and military use airport in Harris County, Texas, United States. It is owned by the City of Houston's department of aviation, Houston Airport System and located 15 nmi southeast of downtown Houston. Formerly known as Ellington Field, then Ellington Air Force Base, then again as Ellington Field it is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation reliever airport. The airport does not have scheduled commercial passenger service. However, Continental Airlines used to operate daily regional services between Ellington and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport between 1990 and 2004. On 17 October 2018, the City of Houston approved Phase 1 of the Houston Spaceport project on the Ellington Airport site.
Norfolk International Airport is seven miles (11 km) northeast of downtown Norfolk, within the boundaries of the independent city in Virginia, United States. It is owned and operated by the Norfolk Airport Authority: a bureau under the municipal government. The airport serves the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of southeast Virginia as well as northeast North Carolina. Despite the name, there are currently no international destinations with regularly scheduled service from the airport.
A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down, and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, and similar services. In common practice, an FBO is the primary provider of support services to general aviation operators at a public-use airport and is on land leased from the airport, or, in rare cases, adjacent property as a "through the fence operation". In many smaller airports serving general aviation in remote or modest communities, the town itself may provide fuel services and operate a basic FBO facility. Most FBOs doing business at airports of high to moderate traffic volume are non-governmental organizations, either privately or publicly held companies.
Martin State Airport is a joint civil-military public use airport located nine nautical miles east of the central business district of Baltimore, in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The facility is located within the census-designated place of Middle River on Maryland State Highway 150, near the intersection of Maryland State Highway 700. The Maryland Aviation Administration operates the airport on behalf of the Maryland Department of Transportation. MTN is a general aviation relief airport.
Fayetteville Regional Airport, also known as Grannis Field, is a public use airport in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is owned by the city of Fayetteville and located three nautical miles (6 km) south of its central business district.
Albert J. Ellis Airport is a county-owned public-use airport in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. It is located in Richlands, 10 nautical miles (19 km) northwest of the central business district of Jacksonville and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. The airport has a single runway and three gates. Opening on February 15, 1971, the airport is used by general aviation, the military and two commercial airlines, American Eagle and Delta Connection.
North Palm Beach County Airport, also known as North County Airport, is an uncontrolled (non-towered) general aviation airport located 12 nautical miles northwest of West Palm Beach off the Bee Line Highway in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The airport is owned by Palm Beach County and operated by the Palm Beach County Airports Department. Opened in 1994, it is the county's newest airport. It is located next to the site of the "fake" town of Apix, Florida.
Shelby County Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) southeast of the central business district of Alabaster, a city in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. It is owned by the Shelby County Commission. The airport is situated in the city of Calera.
Olympia Regional Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) south of the central business district of Olympia, a city in Thurston County and the capital of the U.S. state of Washington. It is owned by the Port of Olympia. It is about one mile (1.6 km) east of Interstate 5, actually within the boundaries of the city of Tumwater which is south of and adjacent to Olympia. The airport was identified in the Washington State Department of Transportation Long Term Aviation Study as a field that could potentially serve to relieve Seattle-Tacoma International Airport of increasing congestion.
Bessemer Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles southeast of the central business district of Bessemer, a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013, it is categorized as a reliever airport for the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.
Flying Cloud Airport is a public airport located in the city of Eden Prairie in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, about 11 miles (18 km) southwest of the central business district (CBD) of Minneapolis.
John C. Tune Airport is a public airport located in the western portion of the city of Nashville in Davidson County, Tennessee, United States. It is owned by the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, located approximately one mile off of Briley Parkway in the Cockrill Bend area. It is a Class D airport.
Renton Municipal Airport is a public use airport located in Renton, a city in King County, Washington, United States. The airport was renamed Clayton Scott Field in 2005 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Clayton Scott. The airport's northern boundary is Lake Washington and the Will Rogers–Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base. Renton Airport has a floating dock and a launching ramp for conversion from wheeled landings to water takeoffs and landings.
Fresno Chandler Executive Airport is a public use airport 1.5 miles west of the central business district of Fresno, California, United States. It is owned by the city of Fresno and managed by the city’s Airports Division.
Smyrna Airport is a public general aviation and military use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) north of the central business district of Smyrna, a town in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. It is owned by the Smyrna / Rutherford County Airport Authority. Smyrna Airport is the third largest airport in Tennessee and is the state's busiest general aviation airport. Prior to March 1971, the facility was an active military installation known as Sewart Air Force Base.
Leesburg Executive Airport at Godfrey Field is a town-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles south of the central business district of Leesburg, a town in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport, also known as Shepherd Field, is a civilian-owned, public use airport located four nautical miles south of the central business district of Martinsburg, a city in Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States. It is owned by the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport Authority or EWVRAA. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, in which the Federal Aviation Administration categorized it as a reliever airport.
Chicago/Aurora Municipal Airport is a public airport opened in April 1966, located in the village of Sugar Grove, Illinois, United States, 8 miles (13 km) west of the city of Aurora, both in Kane County. The airport is owned and operated by the City of Aurora. It is 50 miles (80 km) west of Chicago and is designated as a reliever airport for Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports.
Carroll County Regional Airport, also known as Jack B. Poage Field, is a public airport located three miles (5 km) north of the central business district of Westminster, in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The airport is owned by Carroll County Board of Commissioners. It is designated as a reliever airport for the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI).
Olive Branch Airport is owned by the City of Olive Branch. It is a public use airport in De Soto County, Mississippi, United States. It is located three nautical miles (6 km) northeast of the central business district of Olive Branch, Mississippi. This airport was included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2021–2025, which categorized it as a general aviation reliever airport.