Key West International Airport

Key West International Airport is an international airport located in the City of Key West in Monroe County, Florida, United States, 2 mi east of the main commercial center of Key West.

The relatively short 5076 ft runway limits the maximum size of aircraft that can serve the airport, along with restricting the weight of flights departing.

History
Key West's aviation history began in 1913 with a flight to Cuba by Augustin Parla. In 1928, Pan American Airways began scheduled flights from Key West. The main runway at Meacham Field was pressed into U.S. Army use after the Pearl Harbor attack, as well as into U.S. Navy use later in World War II as an alternative to the Trumbo Point seaplane base and the main Naval Air Station for fixed-wing and lighter-than-air (blimp) aircraft on Boca Chica Key. After the war, the city took over what became Key West Municipal Airport. In January 1953, the city gave Monroe County the title to Meacham Field, allowing the county to apply for Federal Aviation Administration grants. Around the same time, the airport became Key West International Airport.

National Airlines began flights to Miami in 1944 with Lockheed Lodestar twin prop aircraft, although the airport did not have a paved runway until around 1956. National served Key West for nearly 25 years and later operated Convair 340 and Convair 440 prop aircraft, as well as Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops, into the airport. In 1968, National began the first jet flights into Key West with Boeing 727-100s, providing nonstop service to Miami. By 1969, National was operating daily 727 jet service direct to Washington National Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, and John F. Kennedy International Airport via intermediate stops in Miami, West Palm Beach, and Orlando.

Several other airlines also began operating jet service into Key West. In 1979, Air Florida was operating five nonstop flights a day to Miami with Boeing 737 jetliners. In 1987, Eastern Airlines was operating daily mainline Boeing 727-100 jet service nonstop to Miami. By 1989, Piedmont Airlines was operating six nonstop flights a day to Miami with Fokker F28 Fellowship twin jets. This F28 jet service was then continued by USAir following its acquisition of and merger with Piedmont.

A number of commuter and regional airlines also served Key West with turboprop and prop aircraft during the 1970s and 1980s primarily with nonstop flights to Miami but also with nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale, Naples, and Tampa. According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), these air carriers included Air Florida Commuter, Dolphin Airlines, Gull Air, Jetstream International Airlines, Pro Air Services, Provincetown-Boston Airlines (and its successor Bar Harbor Airlines), Southeast Airlines, and Southern Express. Turboprop aircraft operated into the airport included the British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31, Beechcraft 1900C, Beechcraft 1900D, Beechcraft C99, CASA 212 Aviocar, Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante, Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia, Nord 262 and Saab 340. Piston engine twin prop aircraft flown by commuter air carriers serving Key West included the Douglas DC-3, Martin 4-0-4, and Piper Navajo.

Delta Connection carrier Comair began service to Delta Air Lines' hub in Orlando in 1988 and also briefly had service to Tampa and Fort Lauderdale as well. American Eagle Airlines began service from Key West to American Airlines' hub in Miami in 1989. American Eagle operated Saab 340 and ATR-72 propjets into the airport before introducing regional jet service in the 2010s.

By the early 1990s, both USAir and Eastern Air Lines ended jet service to Key West, and all commercial service to Key West would be operated by propeller aircraft for the rest of the decade. In 1993, Cape Air began service to Key West with flights to Naples using Cessna 402s. Service expanded in 1996 with flights to Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers (the latter of which continued operating until 2013). Other airlines operating at Key West in the early 1990s included Airways International (with flights to Fort Lauderdale and Miami), Pan Am Express (with flights to Miami), Paradise Island Airlines (operating code sharing service for Carnival Air Lines to Fort Lauderdale), and USAir Express (later known as US Airways Express with flights to Miami and Tampa).

Gulfstream International Airlines also began service to Key West in the early 1990s with flights to Miami and Tampa. Gulfstream would later operate as Continental Connection, the regional brand of the now-defunct Continental Airlines. Gulfstream has since been rebranded as Silver Airways, who still serves Key West today.

In 2002, Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines began regional jet service to Delta's hub in Atlanta. This brought jet service back to Key West as well as Key West's first non-stop flight to a destination outside of Florida since 1961. Delta Connection's service to Orlando was also upgraded to regional jets at the same time, though Orlando service was discontinued by 2008.

Main line jet service returned to Key West in 2009 when AirTran Airways, Key West's first low-cost carrier, started flights to Orlando International Airport on Boeing 737-700s. Around the same time, Delta Air Lines upgraded some of their Atlanta flights to main line service on Boeing 737s. The airport's runway, which was 4801 ft at the time, was the shortest runway to be regularly used by 737s in North America.

AirTran later added flights to Tampa in 2011. By the end of 2012, Southwest Airlines took over AirTran's flights to Orlando and Tampa as part of the merger of the two airlines. Southwest also added service to New Orleans in March 2013. However, in 2014, Southwest discontinued all service to the airport.

On July 15, 2017, Key West International Airport was awarded a grant of $6.5 million by the FAA to assist in a $10 million runway project. The project added 227 ft to the runway for takeoffs and landings as well as added 10 ft-wide shoulders paved on each side of the runway. Construction work began in January 2018 and all construction was done at night.

Facilities
Key West International Airport covers 334 acres (135 ha) at an elevation of 3 feet (1 m). Its one runway, 09/27, is 5,076 feet long and 100 feet wide (1,547 x 30 m) and has an asphalt surface.

The length of the runway limits the size of aircraft that can serve the airport. Currently the largest aircraft that serve the airport are the Airbus A319 and the similarly sized Boeing 737-700, both shortened variants of the popular narrow-body mainline aircraft. Additionally, flights departing from EYW often have weight restrictions.

The airport has two terminals designed by Mark Mosko and Dwane Stark of URS; Mosko also worked on Baltimore–Washington International Airport. The older ground-level terminal building opened in 1957 and now serves arriving passengers. The terminal was expanded with the addition of a second building elevated over the parking lot in February 2009. With an area of about 30000 sqft, it more than doubled the airport's terminal space. The newer building includes an elevated roadway and houses ticketing, check-in, and the airport's security checkpoint. The older building was then renovated with the former ticketing area becoming an expanded departure gate lounge, and the baggage claim area was then expanded into the former departure lounge. The two buildings are connected by an enclosed walkway.

Parking for 300 vehicles is at ground level beneath the newer terminal—150 spaces for rental cars and 150 for the public.

In November 2022, the airport broke ground on the construction of a new $98.8 million passenger concourse. This concourse will be nearly 50000 ft2 in size and feature a new departures area, an upgraded security checkpoint, additional baggage areas, and new gates featuring seven jet bridges. The project is expected to be completed in early 2025.

In the year ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 66,550 aircraft operations, averaging 182 per day: 55% general aviation, 34% airline, 10% air taxi, and <1% military. At the time, 59 aircraft were based at the airport: 39 single-engine, 13 multi-engine, 3 jet, 3 helicopter and 1 ultralight.

Airlines and destinations
Allegiant, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines operate mainline jets into Key West, primarily the Airbus A319. JetBlue operates the Airbus A220. United Airlines operates the Boeing 737-700. American Eagle, Delta Connection, and United Express operate regional jets, including the CRJ700 and Embraer E-Jets. Silver Airways operates ATR 42 and ATR 72 turboprop aircraft.

Annual traffic
Key West's traffic was generally fairly stagnant to start the new millennium but gradually began increasing at the end of the 2000s with the addition of the new terminal and the introduction of low-cost jet service operated by AirTran, as well as mainline jet service by Delta.

When Southwest acquired AirTran in 2011, it continued to operate flights from the airport, first under the AirTran brand and then under the Southwest brand with Boeing 737-700 jetliners. Southwest Airlines ended service to Key West Airport in 2014.

Accidents and incidents

 * On April 25, 1959, a Vickers Viscount of Cubana de Aviación was hijacked on a flight from Varadero to Havana. The aircraft landed at Key West.
 * On March 19, 2003, Aerotaxi Flight 882, operated by Douglas DC-3C CU-T1192, was hijacked on a flight from Rafael Cabrera Airport in Nueva Gerona, Cuba to José Martí International Airport in Havana. The six hijackers were detained upon the plane's landing at Key West.
 * On April 2, 2003, a Cubana de Aviación flight scheduled from Siguanea Airport to José Martí International Airport, operated by a Antonov An-24, was hijacked and landed in Key West. As of 2021, the plane had remained in Key West and was being used as a training facility for fire and police.
 * On October 31, 2011, a Gulfstream G150 carrying NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick ran off the end of Key West's runway after experiencing a loss in braking action upon landing. The jet, owned by NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson, suffered nose gear damage.
 * On November 2, 2011, a Cessna Citation crash landed in Key West. The flight, which originated in Fort Lauderdale, had a brake failure upon landing. Two pilots were on board along with two passengers. Only minor injuries were reported. The aircraft was stopped by the airport's newly installed EMAS system.