Fresno Yosemite International Airport

for the United States Air Force use of the airport, see Fresno Air National Guard Base
Fresno Air National Guard Base
Fresno Air National Guard Base is the home base of the California Air National Guard 144th Fighter Wing.-Overview:The Fresno Air National Guard Base in California is home to the 144th Fighter Wing...

Fresno Yosemite International Airport , formerly known as Fresno Air Terminal, is a joint civil-military 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 eastern Fresno

Fresno, California

Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...

, in Fresno County, California

Fresno County, California

Fresno County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Stockton and north of Bakersfield. As of the 2010 census, it is the tenth most populous county in California with a population of 930,450, and the sixth largest in size with an area of . The county...

. The airport is more than 60 miles (96.6 km) south of Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...

on California State Route 41

California State Route 41

State Route 41 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting the Cabrillo Highway in Morro Bay with Fresno and Yosemite National Park via the San Joaquin Valley. Except between US 101 in Atascadero and SR 46 near Shandon, SR 41 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway...

. The airport covers 2150 acre (870.1 ha) and has two 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 and one helipad

Helipad

Helipad is a common abbreviation for helicopter landing pad, a landing area for helicopters. While helicopters are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where a helicopter can safely...

. It is the major air transportation center for the San Joaquin Valley

San Joaquin Valley

The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...

, with major air carrier service to airline hubs throughout the Western United States. Direct international flights to Guadalajara

Guadalajara, Jalisco

Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...

, Mexico, are available through Aeromexico

Aeroméxico

Airways of Mexico, SA de CV , operating as Aeroméxico, is the flag carrier airline of Mexico based in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City. It operates scheduled domestic and international services to North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia...

and Volaris

Volaris

Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A. de C.V., operating as Volaris, is a low-cost airline from Mexico, and the country's second largest airline after Aeroméxico, thus being a leading competitor in the Mexican domestic market, with a market share of around 13-14% of domestic...

. Fresno was the ninth (9th) busiest international route out of Guadalajara International Airport in 2009. It is also home to Fresno Air National Guard

Air National Guard

The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...

Base and the 144th Fighter Wing

144th Fighter Wing

The United States Air Force's 144th Fighter Wing is a unit of the California Air National Guard, operationally gained by the Air Combat Command and located at Fresno Air National Guard Base / Fresno Yosemite International Airport in Fresno, California....

(144 FW) of the California Air National Guard

California Air National Guard

The California Air National Guard is the air component of the California National Guard. The California Air National Guard is headquartered at Sacramento, California.One of the duties of the California Air National Guard is defense of the United States...

History

The airfield was opened in June 1942. During World War II the airfield was known as Hammer Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

' Fourth Air Force

Fourth Air Force

The Fourth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve . It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California....

. Hammer Field was a training base and had three sub-bases and two gunnery ranges.

The airfield was renamed Fresno Air Terminal, and retained a military cantonment area for the an Army Air Forces unit of the National Guard that became a unit of the Air National Guard

Air National Guard

when the U.S. Air Force was established as a separate service in 1947.

Today the California Air National Guard

California Air National Guard

144th Fighter Wing
144th Fighter Wing
The United States Air Force's 144th Fighter Wing is a unit of the California Air National Guard, operationally gained by the Air Combat Command and located at Fresno Air National Guard Base / Fresno Yosemite International Airport in Fresno, California....

(144 FW) occupies two separate parcels of land at the airport—the main base area and the Munitions Storage Area. These areas of the airport are known as the Fresno Air National Guard Base
Fresno Air National Guard Base
Fresno Air National Guard Base is the home base of the California Air National Guard 144th Fighter Wing.-Overview:The Fresno Air National Guard Base in California is home to the 144th Fighter Wing...

.

TWA and United flights from San Francisco/Oakland to Los Angeles moved from Chandler Field to FAT in 1947; TWA left in 1963. A United nonstop to Denver started in 1970; the nonstop 727 to Chicago only lasted for a year or so starting in 1979, but Denver continued.

In 1988 the FAA designated the airport as an "International Point of Entry", making it eligible for international flights.

In 1995, the name was changed to attract out-of-state and international visitors to Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park

. Since its opening, the airport has gone through multiple renovations and expansions. In 2002, a new two-level concourse building was completed and in 2006 construction of a new Federal Inspection Facility (FIS) was completed. The airport applied for a new FAA identifier code when its name was changed in 1996; however, the FAA will only assign a new airport identifier code when an airport physically moves to another location, such as in 1995 when Denver Airport moved from Stapleton (DEN to DVX).

Fresno has also served as headquarters for at least two airlines. In the mid 1990s, Air 21 flew Fokker F28

Fokker F28

The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a short range jet airliner designed and built by defunct Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker.-Design and development:...

jets to various destinations; as far east as Colorado Springs, and as far west as San Francisco. Allegiant Air

Allegiant Air

Allegiant Air is an American low-cost airline owned by Allegiant Travel Co. that operates scheduled and charter flights. Allegiant Travel Company is a publicly traded company with 1,300 employees and one billion USD market capitalization...

also called Fresno home, but has since moved its headquarters to Las Vegas.

In the 1980s, Fresno saw a variety of mainline aircraft, but throughout the 1990s, there was a shift to mainly regional aircraft. There has recently been more mainline aircraft returning to Fresno; including the long standing service to Dallas/Ft. Worth on American Airlines

American Airlines

American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...

, Allegiant Air

Allegiant Air

, and US Airways

US Airways

US Airways, Inc. is a major airline based in the U.S. city of Tempe, Arizona. The airline is an operating unit of US Airways Group and is the sixth largest airline by traffic and eighth largest by market value in the country....

offer mainline service to Fresno. Delta Air Lines announced service to Fresno from Atlanta, but this was later recanted. Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines, Inc., is an American airline headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The carrier, which is a subsidiary and operating brand of Republic Airways Holdings, operates flights to 83 destinations throughout the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica and maintains hubs at...

ended service as of June 2007, after two years of steady service.

The only direct international service from Fresno ended when Mexicana

Mexicana de Aviación

Founded in 1921, Compañía Mexicana de Aviación, S.A. de C.V. was Mexico's oldest airline, before ceasing operations on August 28, 2010. The group's closure was announced by the company's recently installed management team a short time after the group filed for Concurso Mercantil and US Chapter 15...

ceased operations in August 2010 to Guadalajara International Airport, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. Volaris

Volaris

and Aeromexico

Aeroméxico

are scheduled to restore service between the two cities April 2011.

Facilities and aircraft

Fresno Yosemite International Airport covers an area of 1728 acre (699.3 ha) at an elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....

of 336 ft (102.4 m) above mean sea level. It has 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

s: 11L/29R is 9227 by and 11R/29L is 7205 by. It also has one helipad

Helipad

, designated H1, that measures 70 by.

For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2009, the airport had 143,945 aircraft operations, an average of 394 per day: 65% 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...

, 18% 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...

, 10% scheduled commercial

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

, and 8% military

Military aviation

Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...

. At that time there were 195 aircraft based at this airport: 47% single-engine

Aircraft engine

An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...

, 23% multi-engine, 6% jet

Jet aircraft

A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...

, 11% 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 13% military

Military aircraft

A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...

Passenger totals

Fresno completed 2006 with 1.281 million passengers traveling through Fresno Yosemite International Airport, an increase of 7.54% over 2005.

Fresno completed 2007 with 1.382 million passengers traveling through Fresno Yosemite International Airport, an increase of 3.13% over 2006.

The most prominent airlines at Fresno are Skywest Airlines for United Express and Delta Connection (36.29%), Mesa Airlines for US Airways Express (16.97%), American Airlines (12.77%), and Horizon Air (9.92%).

Airlines and destinations

The vast majority of air traffic in and out of the airport is private aircraft. Only 7% of the air traffic is commercial, 6% is military, and the remainder is private.

Cargo

Firsts

FAT was the first airport in the country to implement an anti-terrorist facial recognition system
Facial recognition system
A facial recognition system is a computer application for automatically identifying or verifying a person from a digital image or a video frame from a video source...

, shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The first airport in the Nation to install a web-based, wireless system (PASSUR Flight Information Display) to list active flight arrivals and departures.

Military

The 144th Fighter Wing
144th Fighter Wing
The United States Air Force's 144th Fighter Wing is a unit of the California Air National Guard, operationally gained by the Air Combat Command and located at Fresno Air National Guard Base / Fresno Yosemite International Airport in Fresno, California....

of the California Air National Guard
California Air National Guard
The California Air National Guard is the air component of the California National Guard. The California Air National Guard is headquartered at Sacramento, California.One of the duties of the California Air National Guard is defense of the United States...

is based out of the Fresno Yosemite International Airport.
The California Army National Guard
California Army National Guard
The California Army National Guard is the land force component of the California National Guard, one of the reserve component United States Army and is part of the United States National Guard. The California Army National Guard is composed of about 20,000 soldiers...

maintains an Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot (AVCRAD) at the airport. The mission of this unit is to perform high level maintenance and repair on Army aircraft. Its jurisdiction covers a 15-state region in the Western United States.
Both the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry operate an Air Attack Base
Fresno Air Attack Base
The Fresno Air Attack Base was established in 1955 By the US Forest Service, Sierra National Forest and is located at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport. The US Forest Service leases office space to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Fresno/Kings Unit...

at the airport for fighting forest fires with aerial tankers.

Solar power

Fresno Yosemite International features a 2.4 megawatt solar system, completed in March 2008. The airport purchases solar-generated electricity from the system, which is owned, operated, and maintained by Solar Power Partners and its investors. Solar Power Partners contracted WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corp to construct the system. The solar system was financed through a solar Power Purchase Agreement, which required no capital outlay from the airport. At the time of commissioning, the system was the largest airport solar system in the nation.

External links

Fresno Yosemite International Airport, official web site

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