Airport type Public Serves Kearney, Nebraska Website www.FlyKearney.org Elevation 650 m | Owner City of Kearney Elevation AMSL 2,131 ft / 650 m Code EAR Phone +1 308-234-2318 | |
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Location Center Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska Address 5145 Airport Road, Kearney, NE 68847, USA Similar Great Lakes Airlines, Enterprise Rent‑A‑Car, ENT Physicians of Kearney, Kearney Aviation Center | ||
Kearney Regional Airport (IATA: EAR, ICAO: KEAR, FAA LID: EAR) (formerly Kearney Municipal Airport) is in Buffalo County, Nebraska, five miles northeast of Kearney, which owns it. It sees one passenger airline, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.
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Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 11,956 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 10,113 in 2009 and 9,530 in 2010. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport based on enplanements over 10,000 in 2008, but is non-primary commercial service based on enplanements in 2010.
History
In 1940 Kearney had a population of 9,643. In the early 1940s, three Nebraska cities, Kearney, Grand Island and Hastings joined to form the Central Nebraska Defense Council when it was learned that the United States Army Air Forces was considering the site for a military airfield. The group attempted to convince Washington that central Nebraska was suitable. Kearney and Grand Island effectively competed as locations for defense airports which would serve as storage for aircraft made at Offutt Field and the Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant near Omaha.
As early as 1941 the City of Kearney voted on a $60,000 bond to finance a new airport. Kearney Regional Airport began as Keens Municipal Airport. The cost was more than $360,000, with the balance funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Construction began at the site on Highway 30 on October 21, 1941, and was dedicated as Keens Airport on August 23, 1942, with asphalt runways and one hangar. A handful of buildings from the military era remain at Kearney Airport, the predominant one being Hangar #385.
The first airline flights were Mid-West Cessna 190s in 1950-52, then Frontier DC-3s appeared in 1959. Frontier's Convairs lasted until 1979.
Facilities
Kearney Regional Airport covers 2,500 acres (1,012 ha) at an elevation of 2,131 feet (650 m). It has two runways: 18/36 is 7,094 by 150 feet (2,162 x 46 m) asphalt; 13/31 is 4,498 by 75 feet (1,371 x 23 m) concrete.
In the year ending September 30, 2011 the airport had 30,040 aircraft operations, average 82 per day: 93% general aviation, 5% airline, and 2% air taxi. 29 aircraft were then based at the airport: 83% single-engine, 14% multi-engine, and 3% helicopter.
Airline and destinations
Scheduled passenger service: