Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport , or, more succinctly Wicomico Regional Airport, is located in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland

Wicomico County, Maryland

As of the census of 2010, there were 98,733 people, 37,220 households, and 24,172 families residing in the county. The population density was 261.7 people per square mile . There were 41,192 housing units at an average density of 109.2 per square mile...

, 5 miles from downtown Salisbury, Maryland

Salisbury, Maryland

-Demographics:Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury-Ocean Pines CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Salisbury metropolitan area and the Ocean Pines micropolitan area , which had a combined population of 176,657 at the 2010 census.As of the census of 2000, there were...

. This airport is the only commercially served airport on the Delmarva peninsula and brings on average 120,000 people through the city each year. Salisbury is the largest city of Maryland's Eastern Shore with a population of 125,200 in the metro area. The current airport general manager is Robert Bryant.

History

The Salisbury Airport was once used as a Naval Training base during World War II in 1945. After the war ended, the Salisbury-metro area acquired the naval base and turned it into a commercial airport. In the beginning, Chesapeake Airways provided freight and passenger service to Baltimore. Henson Airways, owned by Richard A. Henson, soon came to the airport in 1968 with the idea of "frequency" flights that would provide many flights using smaller aircraft to many airports along the east coast. Henson Airways reigned as the primary air service provider in Salisbury until US Airways Express purchased Henson Airways in 1992. Piedmont Airlines then came into view and became stationed in the Airport. Piedmont Airlines operates a total of 44 planes with 47 different destinations.

Airport construction and expansion

Several construction projects were recently completed extending the main runway by 1000 ft and improving safety areas. These projects will allow flights using regional jet

Regional jet

A Regional jet , is a class of short to medium-range turbofan powered airliners.-History:The term "Regional jet" describes a range of short to medium-haul turbofan powered aircraft, whose use throughout the world expanded after the advent of Airline Deregulation in the United States in...

s. Airport officials hoped these improvements would encourage a second carrier to come to Salisbury.

Airlines and destinations

As the only commercial 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...

 on the Delmarva Peninsula

Delmarva Peninsula

The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia...

, Wicomico Airport serves Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

, the Eastern Shore of Maryland

Eastern Shore of Maryland

The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a territorial part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies predominately on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay and consists of nine counties. The origin of term Eastern Shore was derived to distinguish a territorial part of the State of Maryland from the Western...

 and the Eastern Shore of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, including Salisbury and Ocean City

Ocean City, Maryland

Ocean City, sometimes known as OC, or OCMD, is an Atlantic Ocean resort town in Worcester County, Maryland, United States. Ocean City is widely known in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is a frequent destination for vacationers in that area...

. The airport is the operational headquarters for US Airways Express

US Airways Express

US Airways Express is an airline brand name, rather than a fully certified airline, and as such, the US Airways Express name is used by several individually owned airlines or airline holding companies which provide regional airline and commuter service for US Airways.Operations are conducted from...

 carrier Piedmont Airlines

Piedmont Airlines

Piedmont Airlines is an American regional airline operating for US Airways Express. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the US Airways Group, headquartered in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury, it conducts flight operations using De Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft...

. Piedmont exclusively uses the Bombardier Dash 8-100/300 Series twin-engine turbo-prop airliner, with maximum seating of up to 50 passengers.

Cargo airlines and destinations

External links

• Piedmont Airlines, Inc. - Exclusive commercial passenger airline
• Salisbury Chamber of Commerce - Transportation
• Bay Land Aviation, Inc. - Exclusive Fixed base operator
  Fixed base operator
  A Fixed-base operator or commonly abbreviated FBO is a term developed in the United States after the passage of the Air Commerce Act of 1926...