For other airports with this name, see Capital City Airport (disambiguation).

Capital City Airport is a public airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located in Fairview Township, York County, Pennsylvania

Fairview Township, York County, Pennsylvania

Fairview Township is a township in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,668 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.17%, is water....

, three miles (5 km) southeast of the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 of Harrisburg

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...

, the capital city of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

.

Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier

Location identifier

A location identifier is a symbolic representation for the name and the location of an airport, navigation aid, or weather station, and is used for manned air traffic control facilities in air traffic control, telecommunications, computer programming, weather reports, and related services.-ICAO...

 for the FAA

Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

 and IATA

International Air Transport Association

The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...

, Capital City Airport is assigned CXY by the FAA and HAR by the IATA (which assigned CXY to Cat Cay, Bimini Islands, Bahamas).

Overview

The airport serves the counties of Cumberland

Cumberland County, Pennsylvania

Cumberland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is one of three counties comprising the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 235,406.-History:...

, Dauphin

Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Dauphin County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is one of the three counties comprising the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 census, the population was 268,100. The county includes the city of Harrisburg, which has served as the state capital...

 and York

York County, Pennsylvania

York County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 434,972. It is in the Susquehanna Valley, a large fertile agricultural region in South Central Pennsylvania....

. It is also the home airport for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation and the Pennsylvania State Police

Pennsylvania State Police

The Pennsylvania State Police is the state police force of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. It was founded in 1905 by order of Governor Samuel Pennypacker, in response to the private police forces used by mine and mill owners to stop worker strikes and the inability or...

.

Capital City Airport averages more than 57,000 corporate, charter, and private aircraft operations every year and has earned its place as the airport of choice for thousands of general aviation pilots and their passengers. Owned and operated by the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority (SARAA), Capital City Airport is the designated reliever and sister airport of Harrisburg International Airport

Harrisburg International Airport

-Statistics:-Air cargo:Harrisburg International Airport is well positioned with freight-forwarding capabilities. The airport is located adjacent to I-76 , I-83, and I-81, allowing for fast air-to-ground transfer of goods and commodities...

, and serves the business communities of Dauphin, Cumberland, and York counties.

In addition, a study conducted by the PA Department of Transportation in 2000, concluded that Capital City Airport related activates generate nearly $24 million a year in total economic output into the regional economy

Facilities and aircraft

Capital City Airport covers an area of 320 acres (129.5 ha) which contains two asphalt

Asphalt

Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...

 paved runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

s: 8/26 meauring 5,001 x 150 ft (1,524 x 46 m) and 12/30 measuring 3,925 x 100 ft (1,196 x 30 m).

For the 12-month period ending October 13, 2006, the airport had 57,668 aircraft operations, an average of 157 per day: 95% general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

, 3% military and 2% air taxi

Air taxi

An air taxi is an air charter passenger or cargo aircraft which operates on an on-demand basis.-Regulation:In the United States, air taxi and air charter operations are governed by Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations , unlike the larger scheduled air carriers which are governed by more...

. There are 145 aircraft based at this airport: 81% single-engine, 13% multi-engine, 3% helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

 and 2% jet.

History

Originally called Capital Landing Field, the facility opened in mid-1930 and was Harrisburg's original commercial service airport. In 1934, the Commonwealth

Commonwealth (United States)

Four of the constituent states of the United States officially designate themselves Commonwealths: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia....

 of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 purchased the facility and renamed it Harrisburg-York State Airport. The airport provided air service to the capital region and was an intermediate stop on longer air routes, principally the route between Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

 and Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. During those years, scheduled commercial air service was provided by Transcontinental and Western Airlines

Twa

The Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....

, TWA's predecessor.

During the 1940s, the airport continued in its role as the third largest airport in Pennsylvania and served an important role in the movement of war materials for the adjacent New Cumberland Army Depot, and as the site of the former Naval Photographic Reconnaissance Training School.

The Army Air Corps

United States Army Air Corps

The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...

 stationed the 101st and 103d Observation Squadrons at Harrisburg Airport early in the war to train pilots in observation and aerial photography. Later in the war, the Army Air Force formed the 6th Fighter Wing and 47th Bombardment Wing at the airport before their deployment overseas.

During the 1950s and 1960s, both air carrier service and the number of FBO's increased steadily until 1968 when Olmsted Air Force Base

Olmsted Air Force Base

Harrisburg Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, located at Harrisburg International Airport, Pennsylvania. It is located west-southwest of Middletown, Pennsylvania....

, located just across the river in Middletown

Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Middletown is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River, nine miles southeast of Harrisburg. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 was closed and all scheduled commercial air service was transferred to newly named Harrisburg International Airport

Harrisburg International Airport

-Statistics:-Air cargo:Harrisburg International Airport is well positioned with freight-forwarding capabilities. The airport is located adjacent to I-76 , I-83, and I-81, allowing for fast air-to-ground transfer of goods and commodities...

 in 1970. It was at that time, that Capital City Airport received its current name and became the region's main general aviation airport.

Capital City Airport is located adjacent to the Defense Distribution Center, one of the largest military distribution centers for the warehousing of supplies and equipment for the U.S. Armed Forces. A parachutte rigger detachment from the 82nd Airborne Division also operates out of Capital City Airport.

Since 1999, Capital City Airport has been owned and operated by the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority

Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority

The Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority is the governing authority of Harrisburg International Airport, Capital City Airport, Franklin County Regional Airport and Gettysburg Regional Airport in south-central Pennsylvania...

(SARAA).

External links

• Capital City Airport
• Capital City Airport at Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation