Eppley Airfield (IATA: OMA, ICAO: KOMA, FAA LID: OMA) is a medium hub, international airport three miles northeast of downtown Omaha, Nebraska, in Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. It is the largest airport in Nebraska, serving ten times more passengers than all other Nebraska airports combined.
The airport occupies 2,650 acres (1,070 ha) and handles about 130 daily airline flights to 34 non-stop destinations with 8 airlines. Eppley had its busiest year in 2017, serving 4.6 million passengers.
Video Eppley Airfield
History
Eppley Airfield began as an extension of Levi Carter Park near East Omaha in 1925. That year, the City of Omaha acquired 200 acres of cleared land on the east side of Carter Lake. Almost immediately, planes started landing and taking off there. A lawsuit was launched against the City in 1927 when a group wanted to build a hangar there. The lawsuit failed and the land was called both the Omaha Municipal Airport and the American Legion Airport.
The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 42 scheduled airline departures per day, with 23 by United Airlines and 19 by Braniff International Airways. The airport is named for Eugene C. Eppley, founder of the Eppley Hotel chain, from whose estate $1.0 million was used to ready the then-Omaha Municipal Airport for jet aircraft in 1959-60. This was matched by the federal government and improvements were made to handle jets at the airport, which was renamed Eppley Airfield in his honor in 1960. The first jets to land in Omaha were United Airlines B720s in August 1960.
The terminal building, opened in 1961, was designed by James C. Buckley, Inc. Concourse B opened in 1970 and was remodeled when Concourse A opened in 1986.
Hubs and operations
Midwest Airlines, then known as Midwest Express Airlines, operated a hub at Eppley Airfield from 1995 to 2002 with flights to Milwaukee, Newark, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Diego, and Washington-Reagan; the airport remained a focus city with nonstop flights to Milwaukee and Washington-Reagan until the airline merged with Frontier Airlines in 2009.
During 2017, Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines were the first-, second-, and third-largest carriers and served 33.7 percent, 21.6 percent, and 18.7 percent, of passengers, respectively.
The airport has an on-site U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility that handles international, charter, and private flights. Eppley's first commercial, international flight began May 1, 2018, when Air Canada Express launched a daily flight to Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Popular culture
Several films have used Eppley for a few scenes including the 2002 feature film About Schmidt which included scenes filmed inside and outside the terminal building, and the 2009 feature film Up in the Air which made use of the south end of the terminal building during filming.
Maps Eppley Airfield
Expansion
Parking garage
In April 2017, the Omaha Airport Authority began construction on an approximately $71 million, six-story parking garage and new suspended-above-ground rental car terminal building. The new garage is being built north of the existing six-story garage including a consolidated rental car facility between the new garage and existing terminal connected to both via a covered skywalk. The project is expected to be completed in 2019. The first phase will provide 2,200 parking stalls, with 850 designated for rental cars and 1,350 for public parking. While the existing rental car counters in the terminal are fully operational, the temporary rental car facility is located in the airport's "canopy lot." Shuttle service to the temporary rental car facility is provided by the Omaha Airport Authority. Access to the shuttle is located at a marked area in the temporary rental car facility and outside Door 3 of the main terminal.
Airport
Construction and upgrades are planned for Eppley Airfield's facilities and infrastructure based on passenger growth milestones. An expansion to runway 18/36 will be added in order to enable larger aircraft to land, as well as an enlargement of taxiway A. Concourses A and B will be joined together by a long corridor, and expanded in the northern direction, adding 8 gates. This expansion will also consolidate passenger security screening. After expansion, there will be a total of 28 gates. On either side of the unified terminal, the ramp will be extended for overnight aircraft parking.
In January 2016, Eppley Airfield completed expansion of its on-site United States Customs and Border Protection facility (CBP) to provide greater customs and inspection services for international passengers. Eppley Airfield is classified as a "Customs Landing Rights Airport" for international flights by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Scheduled, commercial international service began on May 1, 2018 when Air Canada Express launched a daily flight to Toronto-Pearson. The airport also handles international cargo, charter, and private flights.
Location
The airport is northeast of downtown Omaha in east Omaha. Although the airport is in Nebraska on the west side of the Missouri River, it is surrounded on the east, west, and south by the State of Iowa: the Missouri River formerly formed an oxbow west of the land that became Eppley Airfield. The river cut off the oxbow during an 1877 flood, leaving behind Carter Lake on a portion of its former course; the Supreme Court ruled in 1893 that though the land cut off by the river's changed route now lay west of the Missouri, it remained part of Iowa. This land eventually became the city of Carter Lake, Iowa.
Terminals
Central Terminal
The Central Terminal contains the ground transportation center and rental car counters.
South Terminal
The South Terminal and Concourse A include gates A1 through A10, baggage claims 1 through 3, and serves Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Frontier Airlines. Gate assignments: Alaska Airlines (A9), Allegiant Air (A1), American Airlines (A6-A8, A10), Delta Air Lines (A2-A5), and Frontier Airlines (A1).
North Terminal
The North Terminal and Concourse B include gates B11 through B20, baggage claims 4 through 6, and services Air Canada Express, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Gate assignments: Air Canada Express (B15), Southwest Airlines (B16-B18), United Airlines (B11-B14); gates B19-B20 are unassigned.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
Statistics
Top destinations
Annual traffic
Ground transportation
Metro Transit Line 16 provides limited weekday-only rush hour service southbound toward downtown and northbound toward the North Omaha Transit Center. Passenger access is located directly outside the central terminal.
Accidents and incidents
- On July 11, 1961, United Airlines Flight 859 veered off the runway and collided with construction equipment at Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado after a flight from Omaha. 17 aboard the aircraft were killed, as was one person on the ground.
- On August 6, 1966 Braniff Airways Flight 250 left Kansas City Downtown Airport headed for Eppley and crashed near Falls City, Nebraska, killing all 42 on board. The flight was waiting for weather to clear in Omaha before descending when violent turbulence compromised the structural integrity of the plane.
See also
- List of airports in Nebraska
Gallery
References
External links
- Official website
- Eppley Airport Guide on Omaha.net
- Aviation Photos from airliners.net
- Aviation Photos from jetphotos.net
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective September 13, 2018
- FAA Terminal Procedures for OMA, effective September 13, 2018
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KOMA
- ASN accident history for OMA
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KOMA
- FAA current OMA delay information
Source of article : Wikipedia
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