Airport type Public Elevation AMSL 2,777 ft / 846 m 12/30 8,001 Elevation 846 m | Serves North Platte, Nebraska Website NorthPlatteAirport.com Code LBF Phone +1 308-532-1900 | |
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Owner North Platte Airport Authority Address 5400 E Lee Bird Dr #10, North Platte, NE 69101, USA | ||
North Platte Regional Airport (IATA: LBF, ICAO: KLBF, FAA LID: LBF) (Lee Bird Field) is a public airport three miles east of North Platte, in Lincoln County, Nebraska. It is owned by the North Platte Airport Authority and sees one airline, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.
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The Federal Aviation Administration says the airport had 10,288 passenger enplanements in calendar year 2008, 7,924 in 2009 and 8,391 in 2010. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport based on enplanements in 2008 (over 10,000) but as non-primary commercial service based on enplanements in 2009 and 2010.
History
North Platte Regional Airport was originally North Platte Field and was built in 1921 with private funds. The original location was the east side of the North Platte River near the river bridge south of U.S. Highway 30. The first hangar and terminal buildings were built there. The airport was the site of the first night airmail flight, on February 22, 1921. The field was lit using burning fuel barrels and the plane landed at 7:48 p.m. and left for Omaha at 10:44 p.m. after repairs to the de Havilland 4.
In 1929 the City of North Platte bought the airfield and leased it to the Boeing Transport Company, an original part of United Airlines. More construction was done in 1941 and the site became the site of a B-17 training command. The same year the airport was renamed Lee Bird Field after Lee Bird, the son of a North Platte family, who was killed in 1918 while training as a pilot for World War I. The Airport Authority began operating the airport in July 1963 and the airport was renamed the North Platte Regional Airport Lee Bird Field in June 1992.
United Airlines stopped at North Platte from the 1930s until Frontier took over in 1959.
Facilities
The airport covers 1,544 acres (625 ha) at an elevation of 2,777 feet (846 m). It has two runways: 12/30 is 8,001 by 150 feet (2,439 x 46 m) concrete; 17/35 is 4,436 by 100 feet (1,352 x 30 m) asphalt.
In 2009 the airport had 37,814 aircraft operations, average 103 per day: 66% general aviation, 17% airline, 15% air taxi, and 1% military. 41 aircraft were then based at this airport: 85% single-engine, 5% multi-engine, 7% jet, and 2% helicopter.