Airport type Public 11/29 5,400 Elevation 201 m | Elevation AMSL 660 ft / 201 m Code CTH | |
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Owner Chester County Area Airport Authority Location Coatesville, Pennsylvania Website www.chestercountyairport.com | ||
Chester County G. O. Carlson Airport (IATA: CTH, ICAO: KMQS, FAA LID: MQS) is a public airport two miles (3 km) west of Coatesville, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Chester County Area Airport Authority.
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Chester County's airport identifier was 40N but it has recently changed to MQS. The airport is next to Keystone Heliport. JetDirect Aviation, a fixed-base operator, and flight training offered by Chester County Aviation, are also located on field.
Most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, but Chester County Airport is MQS to the FAA and CTH to the IATA (which assigned MQS to Mustique Airport on Mustique island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.)
History
The airport opened May 1, 1928 as Coatesville Airport and was owned and operated by the City of Coatesville. In 1959 Chester County purchased the airport and took over operations. At this time, the Chester County Area Airport Authority was formed and the airport was renamed to Chester County Airport. In 1962 the airport was renamed in honor of the first Authority chairman, G. O. Carlson.
Facilities
The airport covers 250 acres (100 ha); its one runway, 11/29, is 5,400 x 100 ft (1,646 x 30 m) asphalt. In the year ending November 17, 2006 the airport had 52,000 aircraft operations, average 142 per day: 94% general aviation, 6% air taxi and <1% military. 96 aircraft are based at the airport: 62% single-engine, 17% multi-engine, 20% jet, and 1% helicopter.
Expansion
As part of the 12-year-plan for the airport, many projects are planned. A new apron, is planned south of the current runway. New hangars will be built for corporate jets. The biggest project is a new 6,000-foot (1,800 m) long runway, more aligned with the usual winds at the airport. The current runway will remain. A control tower is being discussed, if traffic increases.