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Southern Illinois Airport

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Airport type
  
Public

Website
  
www.SIAirport.com

Elevation
  
125 m

Elevation AMSL
  
411 ft / 125 m

Code
  
MDH

Phone
  
+1 618-529-1721

Southern Illinois Airport

Owner/Operator
  
Southern Illinois Airport Authority

Serves
  
Location
  
Jackson County, Illinois

Address
  
556 N Airport Rd, Murphysboro, IL 62966, USA

Profiles

American airlines md 80 southern illinois airport landing kmdh


Southern Illinois Airport (IATA: MDH, ICAO: KMDH, FAA LID: MDH) is a public airport in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. It is located three nautical miles (6 km) northwest of the central business district of Carbondale and east of Murphysboro. This airport is included in the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2015–2019, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.

Contents

The airport opened in 1950 and was originally known as Murdale Airport. Today it ranks as the fourth busiest airport in the state.

The airport is owned and operated by Southern Illinois Airport Authority, a local governmental entity created under state law. A five member boards sets policy for the airport authority and daily administration of the airport is carried out by an airport manager and staff. The board members are appointed by the mayors of Carbondale and Murphysboro and the Chairman of the Jackson County Board and serve for five years on a staggered basis.

C172 night landing at southern illinois airport kmdh hd


Facilities and aircraft

Southern Illinois Airport covers an area of 850 acres (340 ha) at an elevation of 411 feet (125 m) above mean sea level. Three lighted, hard surface runways provide all-weather capability. A precision instrument approach is available on the airport's primary runway.

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2009, the airport had 77,557 aircraft operations, an average of 212 per day: 99% general aviation, 1% air taxi, <1% scheduled commercial, and <1% military. At that time there were 89 aircraft based at this airport: 87% single-engine, 9% multi-engine, 1% jet, 2% helicopter and 1% ultralight.

The airport is capable of accommodating a variety of aircraft up to and including the Boeing 757. Sufficient aircraft ramps and tie-down spaces exist for a large and varied number of aircraft. Hangar space is available for based and transient aircraft up to and including the Gulfstream V.

Southern Illinois Airport is also the home operating base for Southern Illinois University's aviation flight and aviation technologies programs. A $63.3 million Transportation Education Center opened in fall 2012 on the south side of the airport. This state-of-the-art facility houses the Aviation Flight, Aviation Management, and Automotive Technologies programs under one roof. The TEC also houses flight and air traffic control simulator labs, classroom space, and vehicle storage/maintenance labs for automotive students. Nearby, an aviation test cell facility provides space for Aviation Technologies students to test piston- and turbine-powered aircraft engines.

An air traffic control tower operates from 7am to 9pm each day and an ASOS weather facility operates on a 24-hour basis. In addition to the ASOS, Southern Illinois University staffs a weather station in the Transportation Education Center that is available for public use. It is located in the Weather/Dispatch center in the northwest area of the building.

Economic impact

Southern Illinois Airport makes a substantial contribution to the local economy.

Based upon a study commissioned by the Illinois Aeronautics Division, the airport contributes more than $13.8 million in direct and indirect benefits to the region on an annual basis. Today the Airport employs more than 175 full and part-time employees with an annual payroll exceeding $3.3 million. Yearly expenditures in the local area by the Airport and 7 businesses located here are more than $2.5 million. The authors used a conservative multiplier of 1.7 to result in a total annual impact exceeding $13.8 million

References

Southern Illinois Airport Wikipedia


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