Jacksonville International Airport

Jacksonville International Airport

IATA: JAX – ICAO: KJAX – FAA: JAX
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Jacksonville Aviation Authority
Location		Jacksonville, Florida
Elevation AMSL		30 ft / 9.1 m
Coordinates		30°29′38.6″N, 81°41′16.3″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
7/25	10,000	3,048	Concrete
13/31	7,701	2,347	Concrete

Jacksonville International Airport (IATA: JAX, ICAO: KJAX, FAA LID: JAX) is a public airport located 12 miles (14 km) north of the downtown of Jacksonville in Duval County, Florida, United States.

History

Construction of the airport started in 1965, in order for the city to accommodate a more cosmopolitan populace which was introduced with the sizable military base in the region. Jacksonville International was finally opened on October 31, 1968, replacing the antiquated Imeson Airport [1]. A new idea tried in the construction of Jacksonville International was the separating of departing and arriving passengers on two different sides of the terminal (as can be seen in the photo on this page). This is no longer the case though and the airport (which has been greatly expanded since the picture was taken) now utilizes the typical configuration whereby departing passengers are served on an upper level, accessed via an elevated roadway, while arriving passengers utilize the lower level of the terminal.

Initially the airport was slow to expand, only serving two million passengers a year by 1982. However, the addition of more airline service in the late 1980s and early 1990s saw the need for more space in the complex. The airport served over five million passengers annually by 1999, and an airport expansion plan was approved in 2000. The first phase, which included rebuliding the landside terminal, the central square and main concessions area, as well as consolidating the security checkpoints to a single location, and adding more parking capacity was completed in 2004-2005. In 2006, 5,946,188 passengers were processed.[2]

Current expansion activities

The second phase of the expansion program is being carried out over three years, commencing in mid-2006 and is projected to cost about $170 million. It includes demolishing concourses A and C of the airside terminal (which for the most part are built to late-1960's standards), to be completely replaced with more spacious, modern facilities which will also house more gates. These two new concourses are slated to open in the spring of 2009. Concourse B however, will be rebuilt at a later date. Also included in the program is a further expansion of the parking system and a new automated baggage screening system.

In order to accommodate constructing the new airside terminal and apron, most of the western-facing gates in concourses A and C have been permanently closed and their jetways removed.

Virgin America lists Jacksonville as one of 30 cities it expects to serve in the next five years. ^[1]

The airport authority is currently trying to add non-stop flights to Phoenix and San Juan with an eye on establishing charter service to Europe.

Facilities

Jacksonville International Airport covers 7,911 acres and has two runways:

Runway 7/25: 10,000 x 150 ft. (3,048 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete
Runway 13/31: 7,701 x 150 ft. (2,347 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete

The airport's two runways are laid out in "V" configuration (with the bottom tip of the "V" pointing West). A long-range plan exists to build two additional runways, each paralleling one of the existing runways. A new runway alongside the existing southern runway will be built first, however, no date has been set yet for implementing the runway expansion plan (the expectation is that construction of the third runway would take place around 2015).

Airlines and destinations

Jacksonville International Airport's terminal has 3 concourses.

Concourse A

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Los Angeles)
- Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Cincinnati/Northern
- Delta Connection operated by Comair (Boston, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-LaGuardia)
Northwest Airlines (Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul)
- Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Memphis)

Concourse B

AirTran Airways (Atlanta)
ExpressJet Airlines (Austin, Kansas City, New Orleans, Raleigh/Durham)
Frontier Airlines (Denver)
JetBlue Airways (New York-JFK)
United Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare) [begins October 28]
- United Express operated by GoJet Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare [ends October 27], Washington-Dulles)
- United Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare [ends October 27], Washington-Dulles)
- United Express operated by SkyWest (Chicago O'Hare) [ends October 27]
US Airways (Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington-Reagan)

Concourse C

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth)
- AmericanConnection operated by Trans States Airlines (St. Louis)
- American Eagle (Chicago-O'Hare, Miami, New York-LaGuardia, Raleigh/Durham)
- American Eagle operated by Executive Air (Miami)
Continental Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
- Continental Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental)
- Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines (Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
- Continental Connection operated by Gulfstream International Airlines (Tampa, West Palm Beach)
Southwest Airlines (Baltimore/Washington, Birmingham (AL), Fort Lauderdale, Houston-Hobby, Indianapolis, Nashville, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Tampa)

Trivia

Delta Air Lines is the only scheduled airline to provide service to Jacksonville International Airport on widebody aircraft. Delta widebody aircraft (mostly the Boeing 767-300, occasionally the Boeing 767-400ER) are regularly-scheduled on the route to/from Jacksonville International Airport to/from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Virgin Atlantic Airways became the first airline to operate the Boeing 747-400 into the airport when Virgin flight 75 from Manchester Airport to Orlando International Airport was diverted on the July 31, 2007.