State College Regional Airport

State College Regional Airport (formerly University Park Airport), is a public airport in Benner Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, serving State College and Bellefonte. The airport covers 1,105 acres (447 ha) and has one active runway.

The airport is owned by The Pennsylvania State University, but the terminal building and parking areas are owned and operated by the Centre County Airport Authority. It is currently served by United Express and American Eagle, connecting to hubs in the Northeast and Midwest.

History
In the 1950s a small airport was built on land leased from Penn State, just north of State College. The Centre County Airport Authority was created to manage the development of the airport. The October 1959 chart shows 2350-foot runway 6; the August 1965 chart shows 3000 feet; the November 1967 chart adds 2350-foot runway 16. (The intersection of those two 50-foot runways is still visible at 40.8492°N, -77.85315°W). The present runway was built parallel to the old runway 6 about 1975–76; it was then 5000 feet long.

The first airline flights (All American DC-3s) at State College were at the old airport southwest of town 40.7704°N, -77.8815°W from 1949 to 1951. In 1965 Harrisburg Commuter began flights from State College to Harrisburg, two flights each weekday; the 1965 Official Airlines Guide does not state which airport they served, but starting in 1978 Allegheny Commuter flights were at University Park.Penn State assumed the lease and assets of the airport in 1972. A permanent passenger terminal was built in 1985. A new passenger terminal was completed in 1993, and cargo operations moved to the old terminal. In 1997 the runway was lengthened to 6,701 ft (2,042 m). A new general aviation hangar was built in 2001.

Construction on the control tower began on January 8, 2010 and was completed in early August 2011. The Airport Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) went operational on September 1, 2011, and is operated by Midwest Air Traffic Control under the Federal Contract Tower Program.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says in 2019 there were 190,930 enplanements, making University Park Airport the 6th busiest airport in Pennsylvania.

On November 3, 2023, the Centre County Airport Authority announced that University Park Airport had been renamed State College Regional Airport.

Services
The Centre County Airport Authority owns and operates the commercial airline terminal. The terminal consists of a snack bar, free Wi-Fi, charging stations for mobile devices and a conference room. Taxi, limousine services and car rentals are available. The airport does not have jet bridges, and all aircraft board from ground-level hardstands.

Penn State University fixed-base operator (FBO), offers fuel, flight planning services, aircraft repair, and hangar rental.

American Eagle is serviced by Piedmont Airlines and Air Wisconsin Airlines. United Express is serviced by GoJet Airlines and SkyWest Airlines.

Delta Airlines suspended service on June 5, 2023, citing personnel shortages.

Allegiant Air operated 2-4 flights per week to Orlando-Sanford and St. Pete/Clearwater from October 2019 to May 2022 using Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft.

Private aircraft are serviced by fixed-base operator Penn State Aviation Center.

Tech Aviation Flight School is located at the T-Hangars.

Runways
State College Regional Airport features one active runway. The end closest to Rock Road is Runway 24, bearing a magnetic heading of 243 degrees. Runway 24 is equipped with an instrument landing system (ILS) and is used as the primary landing and departing runway. Runway 6 is used as a visual runway; however, infrastructure has been considered to improve satellite-based approaches. Runway 16 and 34 was formerly used for general aviation but was closed.

Aircraft
State College Regional Airport regularly operates the Bombardier CRJ family, Embraer ERJ145s, and Embraer E175s. De Havilland Canada Dash 8s were common until their replacement by the regional jets. Cessna 208 Caravans are operated by Wiggins Airways contracted under FedEx Express cargo flights. Wiggins services Pittsburgh International Airport. Geisinger operates an Airbus H145 helicopter as a LifeFlight service. The airport sees numerous general aviation aircraft; Piper PA-28 Cherokees and business jets are common, while larger aircraft up to Boeing 757s can be seen as charter jets.

Military
State College Regional Airport is home to Civil Air Patrol Nittany Composite Squadron PA-338. The squadron operates a Cessna 182 Skylane registered as N848CP.

The United States Army and Air National Guard occasionally fly Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft into UNV for training missions. Aircraft such as the F/A-18 Hornet and A-10 Thunderbolt II have staged at the airport to participate in flyovers of Beaver Stadium.

U.S. Presidents have flown into UNV aboard Boeing C-32s operating as Air Force One.