Airport type Public Elevation AMSL 164 ft / 50 m 5,001 1,524 Code POU Phone +1 845-463-6000 | Serves Poughkeepsie, New York 6/24 5,001 1,524 Asphalt Elevation 50 m Owner Dutchess County, New York | |
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Address 263 New Hackensack Rd, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590, USA | ||
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Dutchess County Airport (IATA: POU, ICAO: KPOU, FAA LID: POU) is a county-owned public-use airport located on State Route 376 in the Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York, United States, four miles (6 km) south of the central business district of Poughkeepsie. It is sometimes called Poughkeepsie Airport, which gives it the code POU. The airport provides corporate and general aviation transportation services.
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History
Dutchess County Airport was built by the United States Department of Commerce in the 1930s and was used for pilot training during World War II by the US Army Air Forces. Known as New Hackensack Field at the time for the nearby hamlet, it was used by students at the United States Military Academy and as an extension of military training conducted at Stewart Field. On June 17, 1942, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill flew from Naval Air Station Anacostia to New Hackensack Field, where he was met by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had driven from his Hyde Park home.
After the Second World War, the airport was turned over to the county for the sum of $1 and guarantees that it would remain open as part of the Surplus Property Act of 1944 by the War Assets Administration. It was then used for general aviation. IBM built a hangar and based its corporate aircraft and helicopters at the airport, including Gulfstream II jets in the 1970s–1980s. In the 1970s, Cessna built and ran a Cessna Citation maintenance facility on the airport grounds.
Scheduled air service
In the 1950s, scheduled air carrier service was provided at Dutchess County Airport by Colonial Airlines. Its service to POU in 1956 was a DC-3 aircraft from New York City's LaGuardia Airport, making an 11:50 am Monday-Friday flag stop en route to Montreal, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario in Canada, with intermediate stops at Albany, New York, and Burlington, Vermont.
In the 1960s–1980s, the airport had commuter airline service by Command Airways, Colgan Airways, Air North, and others. Command Airways, later known as American Eagle Airlines, maintained its hub, executive offices, and maintenance facilities at the airport. Command qualified the ATR 72 with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for U.S. flight operations at the airport. In September 1980, the airport opened its current 16,700 sq ft (1,551 m2) terminal building for airline passengers.
When Stewart International Airport, which is located just across the Hudson River, started commercial operations in 1990, most commercial airline service ended at Dutchess County Airport. POU lost its last commercial service on August 12, 2001, when Continental Connection carrier CommutAir discontinued its flights to Burlington International Airport, Vermont.
Facilities and aircraft
Dutchess County Airport covers an area of 640 acres (260 ha) which contains three runways, two of which are paved. The main runway (6–24) is 5,001 by 100 feet (1,524 by 30 m) and is equipped with an ILS system to the northeast-facing runway along with a medium intensity approach light system with runway alignment lights. The crosswind runway (15–33) was originally 3,003 feet (915 m) long but is now shortened to 2,744 by 100 feet (836 by 30 m) due to displaced thresholds at both ends. A turf/dirt runway (7–25) measures 1,358 by 100 feet (414 by 30 m).
A Flight Service Station was opened at the airport, but closed during the 1990s. In the 1970s, a control tower was constructed by the FAA, which currently operates it 14 hours per day. In 2004, the airport received $1 million from the Federal Aviation Administration for improvements in safety and runway rehabilitation.
For the 12-month period ending April 30, 2014, the airport had 75,133 aircraft operations, an average of 206 per day: 99% general aviation, 1% air taxi, <1% military. At that time there were 133 aircraft based at this airport: 84% single-engine, 7% multi-engine, 8% helicopter, 2% military.
There is currently only one flight school that operates at the airport, United Aviation Academy, located in the main terminal. Richmor Aviation, previously located on the north side of the airport, left in 2013.