Oxnard Airport (IATA: OXR, ICAO: KOXR, FAA LID: OXR) is a county owned, public airport a mile west of downtown Oxnard, in Ventura County, California. The airport has not had scheduled passenger service since June 8, 2010, when United Express (operated via a code sharing agreement with United Airlines by SkyWest Airlines) ended flights to Los Angeles International Airport. America West Express has also served the airport with nonstop flights to Phoenix in the early-2000s.
Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 15,961 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 12,060 in 2009 and 4,074 in 2010. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011-2015 called it a primary commercial service airport based on enplanements in 2008 (over 10,000 per year). By the time of the next NPIAS report, for 2015-2019, Oxnard Airport had been downgraded to a regional general aviation airport with only 19 enplanements.
Video Oxnard Airport
History
Ventura County opened Oxnard Airport in 1934 by clearing a 3,500 ft dirt runway. In the 1930s aviator Howard Hughes erected a tent at the airport to shelter his famous H-1 monoplane racer, which he tested from the dirt strip. In 1938 Ventura County paved the dirt runway and built a large hangar. In 1939 James McLean opened the Oxnard Flying School with a Piper J-3 Cub and a Kinner 2-seat airplane. Housing was built nearby for instructors and students at the school.
In late 1941, the airport was assigned to the U.S. Navy until the Naval Air Station at Point Mugu could be completed. The Navy moved to NAS Point Mugu in 1945 and the Oxnard Flying School returned to the airport. Ventura County regained control of the airport in 1948, receiving a final quitclaim deed. The state of California issued the airport an operating permit in 1949.
Maps Oxnard Airport
Past airline service
Scheduled airline service started in 1946 with Southwest Airways flying Douglas DC-3s on a multi-stop route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Southwest then changed its name to Pacific Air Lines which in turn began operating Martin 4-0-4 prop aircraft followed by Fairchild F-27 turboprops into the airport. In 1968 Pacific merged with Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines to form Air West which was subsequently renamed Hughes Airwest which in turn continued to serve Oxnard with F-27s. Also in 1968, Cable Commuter Airlines was operating de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter service to LAX.
Hughes Airwest ended all service to Oxnard in the early 1970s and was then replaced by Golden West Airlines and other commuter air carriers. Golden West operated de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and Short 330 turboprops nonstop to Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego and Santa Barbara. Other service included Wings West with Beech 99 turboprops to Los Angeles and Desert Pacific Airlines flying Piper twin prop aircraft nonstop to San Francisco, Sacramento and Las Vegas. By 1980, Golden Gate Airlines was operating nonstop service to Bakersfield, Las Vegas, Monterey, and Santa Barbara with direct service to San Francisco.
Oxnard never received scheduled jet service; however, the airport did have Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia propjet service operated by WestAir as United Express nonstop to San Francisco in the 1990s. Most service was operated to LAX with a few flights to Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and other cities. In 1985, Evergreen Airspur, a division of Evergreen International Airlines, was operating de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters to LAX. By the late 1980s into the mid 1990s, two airlines were flying Oxnard-LAX service: American Eagle operated by Wings West flying Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner propjets and United Express operated by WestAir flying British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 propjets. The United Express service would later be taken over by SkyWest Airlines with this airline operating Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias. United Express subsequently ended all scheduled passenger flights at the airport and Oxnard no longer has airline service.
California Air Shuttle was a commuter airline based at the Oxnard Airport. In 1990, it briefly operated nonstop service with a Swearingen Metro II propjet aircraft between the airport and Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento. This new start-up air carrier quickly went out of business.
Facilities and aircraft
Oxnard Airport covers 230 acres (93 ha) at an elevation of 45 feet (14 m) above mean sea level. Its one runway, 7/25, is 5,953 by 100 feet (1,814 x 30 m) asphalt.
In 2010 the airport had 55,323 aircraft operations, average 151 per day: 92% general aviation, 8% air taxi, and <1% military. 157 aircraft were then based at this airport: 79% single-engine, 17% multi-engine, and 5% helicopter.
Airline and destination
Cargo
See also
- California World War II Army Airfields
- This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
References
External links
- Oxnard Airport at Ventura County web site
- General Information for Airport Users
- Oxnard Airport Association
- www.airfieldsdatabase.com
- Aspen Helicopters (also known as the Oxnard Jet Center) is a fixed-base operator (FBO) located at the airport.
- Golden West Jet Centers: Oxnard is an Oxnard-based FBO
- Light Helicopter Depot: Oxnard is an Oxnard-based Robinson Helicopter Overhaul Facility
- Aerial image as of September 1994 from USGS The National Map
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective July 19, 2018
- FAA Terminal Procedures for OXR, effective July 19, 2018
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for OXR
- AirNav airport information for KOXR
- ASN accident history for OXR
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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