STOLport - STOLports in The United States

STOLports in The United States

In the United States, STOLports are one of several types of facilities, they are identified with an S at the end of the site ID. For example, Calvert Peak STOLport is listed as FAA site number 19448.1*S. As of January 2009, around 80 facilities are coded as STOLports by the FAA in the United States. According to the FAA, in 1968 twenty-five potential STOLport sites were identified in the Northeast Megalopolis.

The first US STOLport for commercial operation was commissioned August 5, 1968 at La Guardia airport and was available for VFR use only. Logan International Airport opened an 1,800-foot (549 m) STOL runway September 20, 1968 for use testing Eastern's Breguet 941 shuttle on east coast routes.

The first officially designated STOLport was opened October 17, 1971 at Walt Disney World in Florida. Shawnee Airlines operated scheduled passenger service between the Walt Disney World Airport (DWS, also known as the Lake Buena Vista STOLport) and Orlando McCoy Jetport (MCO, now the Orlando International Airport) with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprop STOL aircraft. The 2,000 foot STOL runway at this former airport is no longer in use. Prior to that date, only portions of facilities were designated STOLports. Plans at the time called for an interstate STOL transportation system. On July 26, 1972 the FAA V/STOL office was renamed to the Quiet Short-Haul Air Transportation System Office refocusing it and reflecting public concerns about noise created by smaller more numerous STOLports as opposed to larger airports. The Quiet Short-Haul Air Transportation System Office was eliminated June 11, 1974.

Additionally, some STOLports were never open to public aviation and were privately owned, such as the Avon STOLPort, a 4,000-foot (1,219 m) runway located adjacent to the town of Avon, Colorado that was constructed specifically to handle ski tourism flights for the nearby ski resorts in the Vail area. The Avon STOLPort was owned and operated by Rocky Mountain Airways with this commuter air carrier also being the worldwide launch customer of the de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 four engine turboprop STOL aircraft. Rocky Mountain selected the 50-passenger Dash 7 specifically for the purpose of transporting passengers into high mountain airports with short runways from its hub located at Denver Airport. The airline also utilized the Dash 7 for scheduled flights into the small Steamboat Springs Airport (SBS) in Colorado. The Avon STOLport is no longer in existence.

Another privately owned STOL airfield was the Clear Lake City STOLport located in the Houston, Texas area near the NASA Johnson Space Center. This small airport which included a 2,500 foot runway, an aircraft hangar and a passenger terminal was constructed in 1969 and owned by Houston Metro Airlines which later changed its name to Metro Airlines. This commuter air carrier operated de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprops in scheduled "cross-town" air service between Clear Lake City, Texas (CLC) and Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH, now Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport) which had a dedicated STOL runway at the time. According to the February 1976 edition of the Official Airline Guide (OAG), the airline was operating 22 roundtrip flights every weekday between CLC and IAH in a passenger shuttle service. Metro Airlines eventually ceased operations due to financial challenges. The Clear Lake City STOLport was subsequently abandoned and then demolished to make way for new suburban development. There is no trace of this pioneering airfield to be found at the present time.

The Kapalua Airport on the island of Maui in Hawaii was also constructed with STOL operations in mind. Although not specifically referred to as a STOLport, the runway length at this airfield is 3,000 feet. According to State of Hawaii historical records, Hawaiian Airlines built this airfield and then initiated scheduled passenger flights on March 1, 1987 between Kapalua and Honolulu International Airport (HNL) with de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 turboprops. The airline owned and operated this private airport, which is also known as Kapalua-West Maui Airport, specifically for its own scheduled Dash 7 air services until 1993 when it was acquired by the State of Hawaii. The three letter airport code for Kapalua Airport, being JHM, stands for John Henry Magoon who was President of Hawaiian Airlines when the airfield and passenger terminal were constructed by the air carrier. The Kapalua Airport is still in existence and is currently served with scheduled passenger flights operated by Island Air with de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprop aircraft. However, according to a news report on KHON-TV in Honolulu which aired on March 22, 2013, Island Air will end all service to the airport effective on May 31, 2013 as the airline is reportedly eliminating the Dash 8 from its fleet and will replace this type with ATR-42 and ATR-72 regional turboprop aircraft.

One commuter airline operating scheduled passenger service in the U.S. even had the word "STOL" in its name: Stol Air Commuter, which was also known as STOL Air Commuter. This air carrier connected several cities in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as destinations in northern California with San Francisco International Airport (SFO) during the 1970s. Although Stol Air Commuter did not serve any dedicated STOLports, the airline did operate STOL capable Britten-Norman Islander and Britten-Norman Trislander aircraft. One of the Bay Area airfields served by STOL Air was Gnoss Field (also known as Marin County Airport) which has a runway that is 3,300 feet in length.