Municipal Airports: What They Are And What They Mean

A municipal airport is an airport owned by a city or municipality. In the US, there are approximately 5,000 public-use airports, which are open to the public, and 14,400 private-use airports, which are closed to the public. Airports are categorized by the type of activities they support, including commercial service, primary, cargo service, reliever, and general aviation. Commercial service airports are publicly owned and have at least 2,500 passenger boardings each calendar year, while primary airports have more than 10,000 passenger boardings annually. Cargo service airports primarily handle the transportation of cargo, with an annual landed weight of over 100 million pounds. Reliever airports aim to reduce congestion at commercial service airports, and general aviation airports have less than 2,500 annual passenger boardings.

Municipal airports are owned by a city or municipality

A municipal airport is owned by a city or municipality. In the US, there are approximately 5,000 public-use airports, and around 3,300 of these are included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS).

Municipal airports are subject to the jurisdiction of the city or municipality that owns them. This means that the city or municipality is responsible for the operation, regulation, protection, and policing of the airport, although this may be delegated to a third party.

The way a municipal airport operates depends on its type. Airports are categorized by the type of activities they support, such as commercial service, primary, cargo service, reliever, and general aviation. For example, a cargo service airport is served by aircraft providing air transportation of cargo with a total annual landed weight of more than 100 million pounds. In contrast, a general aviation airport is a public-use airport with less than 2,500 annual passenger boardings.

The ownership of a municipal airport by a city or municipality means that it is publicly owned. This is in contrast to private-use airports, of which there are around 14,400 in the US. These private-use airports are closed to the public and are owned and operated by private entities or individuals.

There are 5,000 public-use airports in the US

In the US, there are 5,000 public-use airports, heliports, and seaplane bases. These are airports that are open to the public and provide general aviation services. A municipal airport is a type of public-use airport that is owned by a city or municipality. For example, the Municipal Airport in Unionville, Missouri, and the Municipal Airport in Texhoma, Oklahoma, are both municipal airports. Being open to the public means that anyone can use these airports to fly to and from their desired destinations.

Public-use airports are further categorized into commercial service, primary, cargo service, reliever, and non-primary airports. Commercial service airports are publicly owned and have a minimum of 2,500 passenger boardings each calendar year, with scheduled passenger services. These are further categorized into primary and non-primary airports. Primary airports have more than 10,000 passenger boardings annually, while non-primary airports have between 2,500 and 10,000.

Cargo service airports are those where aircraft provide air transportation of cargo with a total annual landed weight of over 100 million pounds. Reliever airports are designated to reduce congestion at commercial service airports and improve general aviation access for the community. These may be publicly or privately owned.

Non-primary airports are further categorized into non-primary commercial service, reliever, and general aviation airports. General aviation airports are public-use airports with less than 2,500 annual passenger boardings and no scheduled services. Approximately 88% of the public-use airports included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) are general aviation airports.

The US also has approximately 14,400 private-use airports, which are closed to the public.

Airports are categorised by type of activity, e.g. commercial service, primary, cargo service

A municipal airport is an airport owned by a city or municipality. For instance, Municipal Airport, Missouri, Unionville, and Municipal Airport, Oklahoma, Texhoma, are municipal airports.

Airports are categorized based on the type of activity they support. These categories include:

Commercial Service Airports

These are publicly owned airports that serve at least 2,500 passengers annually and provide scheduled passenger services. Commercial service airports can be further categorized into primary and non-primary airports. Primary airports are commercial service airports with more than 10,000 passenger boardings each year. Non-primary commercial service airports have between 2,500 and 10,000 passenger boardings annually.

Cargo Service Airports

Cargo service airports primarily serve cargo aircraft with a total annual "landed weight" of over 100 million pounds. The landed weight refers specifically to the weight of aircraft transporting only cargo. An airport can be designated as both a commercial service and a cargo service airport.

Reliever Airports

Reliever airports are designated to relieve congestion at commercial service airports and improve general aviation access for the community. These airports may be publicly or privately owned.

General Aviation Airports

General aviation airports are public-use airports that do not have scheduled services or have fewer than 2,500 annual passenger boardings. These airports constitute the largest single group of airports in the US system and account for approximately 88% of airports included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS).

Commercial service airports must have a minimum of 2,500 passenger boardings annually

A municipal airport is an airport owned by a city or municipality. In the US, there are approximately 5,000 public-use airports, heliports, and seaplane bases. These are airports that are open to the public.

Commercial service airports are a subset of public airports. They are publicly owned and must have a minimum of 2,500 passenger boardings each calendar year to be classified as such. This minimum number of boardings must be met to qualify as a commercial service airport, and these flights must be scheduled passenger services.

Passenger boardings refer to revenue passenger boardings on an aircraft in service in air commerce, whether or not the service is scheduled. This includes passengers who continue on an aircraft in international flight that stops at an airport in any of the 50 states for a non-traffic purpose, such as refueling or aircraft maintenance.

Commercial service airports with between 2,500 and 10,000 passenger boardings each year are considered non-primary commercial service airports. Airports with more than 10,000 passenger boardings each year are considered primary airports.

General aviation airports, on the other hand, are public-use airports that do not have scheduled service or have fewer than 2,500 annual passenger boardings. Approximately 88% of airports included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) are general aviation airports.

Primary airports have over 10,000 passenger boardings each year

A municipal airport is an airport owned by a city or municipality. In the US, there are around 5,000 public-use airports, heliports, and seaplane bases. These are open to the public and are defined by law as any area of land or water used or intended for aircraft landing or takeoff, including areas for airport buildings and facilities.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) categorizes airports by the type of activities they support. Primary airports are commercial service airports that have more than 10,000 passenger boardings each year. These are further categorized into small, medium, and large hub primary airports. Small hub primary airports handle 0.05-0.25% of a country's annual passenger boardings, medium hub primary airports handle 0.25-1%, and large hub primary airports handle over 1%.

Non-primary commercial service airports, on the other hand, have between 2,500 and 10,000 passenger boardings annually. General aviation airports are public-use airports that do not have scheduled services or have fewer than 2,500 annual passenger boardings. Approximately 88% of airports included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) are general aviation airports.

The size of an airport often dictates its traffic volume. Larger airports can accommodate larger aircraft, such as those used for commercial operations, and typically experience higher traffic volumes due to commercial carriers operating to and from them. Airports that serve as hubs for passenger-carrying airlines also tend to have more traffic, as they become destinations for transfer flights. For example, United Airlines is based in Chicago at O'Hare International Airport, and a flight from San Francisco to Indianapolis would involve a layover in O'Hare, increasing traffic to that hub.

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