Topeka Regional Airport , formerly known as Forbes Field, is a joint civil-military public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

owned by the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority in

Shawnee County, Kansas Shawnee County (county code SN) is located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 178,909, making it the third-most populous county in Kansas. Its most populous city, Topeka, is the state ...

, seven miles south of downtown

Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Uni ...

, the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

. The

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2011–2015 called it a ''

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

'' airport. Topeka Regional Airport is used by the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

(KU) for charter flights for its athletic teams and by schools visiting the KU campus in Lawrence, which is east of the airport via the

Kansas Turnpike The Kansas Turnpike is a , freeway-standard toll road that lies entirely within the US state of Kansas. It runs in a general southwest–northeast direction from the Oklahoma border to Kansas City. It passes through several major Kansas cities, ...

. (

Kansas City International Airport Kansas City International Airport (originally Mid-Continent International Airport) is a public airport in Kansas City, Missouri located northwest of Downtown Kansas City in Platte County, Missouri., effective December 30, 2021. The airport ...

is from KU.) The airport had scheduled airline service by multiple carriers until 2014.

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

records say the airport had 11,573 passenger boardings (enplanements) in

calendar year Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days. A year can also be measured by starting on any ...

2019.

History

Topeka Regional Airport (formerly Forbes Field) is on the site of the Topeka Army Airfield, later Forbes Air Force Base, a former

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

(SAC) facility that was transferred to

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 Ju ...

in 1964 (while retaining SAC-gained tenants). Forbes AFB closed in 1973 but retained a

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

presence in the form of a SAC-gained

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

installation that was previously a tenant command at Forbes AFB. With the departure of active duty Regular Air Force personnel and units, the remaining military activity was named Forbes Air National Guard Base. Most of the former base administrative area is now used for offices and an industrial park. The

190th Air Refueling Wing The 190th Air Refueling Wing (190 ARW) is a unit of the Kansas Air National Guard, stationed at Forbes Field Air National Guard Base, Topeka, Kansas. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobilit ...

(190 ARW) of the

Kansas Air National Guard The Kansas Air National Guard (KS ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Kansas, United States of America. It is, along with the Kansas Army National Guard, an element of the Kansas National Guard. As state militia units, the units in the K ...

continues to part of the airport as a military cantonment area and

installation known as Forbes Field Air National Guard Base; the wing currently flies and maintains the

Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpo ...

. From 1942 to 1973 the following Air Force components supervised the airfield: *

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defende ...

, 1942–1945 *

Continental Air Forces Continental Air Forces (CAF) was a United States Army Air Forces major command, active 1944–1946. It was tasked with combat training of bomber and fighter personnel, and for Continental United States (CONUS) air defense after the Aircraft Wa ...

, 1945–1947 *

Air Materiel Command Air Materiel Command (AMC) was a United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force command. Its headquarters was located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. In 1961, the command was redesignated the Air Force Logistics Command ...

, 1947–1948; 1949–1951 (In inactive status) *

, 1948–1949; 1951–1964 *

, 1964–1973 *

, 1973 – present In April 1976, except for areas retained by the Air National Guard, most of the former Forbes Air Force Base was turned over to the city of Topeka and Shawnee County. During this transition, all airline flights moved from the

Philip Billard Municipal Airport Philip Billard Municipal Airport is a public airport northeast of downtown Topeka, the capital city of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is owned by the Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority. Commercial airline service for Tope ...

to the newly-established Forbes Field. On June 1, 1976, the original

Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The c ...

scheduled the first jet out of Forbes Field, a

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

. Shortly afterward, the

Combat Air Museum The Combat Air Museum is a non-profit aviation museum at Topeka Regional Airport (Forbes Field) in Shawnee County, near Topeka, Kansas. The museum is dedicated to the creation of facilities and resources for the education of the local and regional ...

was established on the airport. In 1981 a bond to build a new air terminal was rejected, but approved in 1982. The $5 million terminal was completed in 1985. The terminal has five airline ticket counters and two rental car counters. Currently Hertz is the only rental car company at FOE. There is one baggage claim carousel. Several charter and military flights use the terminal today. In 2012 the MTAA Board of Directors renamed the facility to Topeka Regional Airport and Business Center, maintaining the name of the airfield as Forbes Field. Topeka Regional Airport is currently the home of the Kansas Air National Guard's 190th Air Refueling Wing and the 1st Battalion,

108th Aviation Regiment The 108th Aviation Regiment is a unit of the United States Army. It is part of the Kansas Army National Guard and has served with distinction in World War II (under a different designation and configuration), Iraq and Afghanistan. The 1st Battal ...

Kansas Army National Guard The Kansas Army National Guard is a component of the Army National Guard and the Kansas National Guard. Kansas Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army. The same ranks and insignia are used and Nation ...

Historical airline service

Airline service began in the early 1930s by a small mail carrier United States Airways which flew a route between Denver and Kansas City. Flights made stops in Goodland, Salina, and Topeka, Kansas, using a five-passenger

Metal Aircraft Flamingo The Metal Aircraft Flamingo was a monoplane produced in Cincinnati, Ohio by the Metal Aircraft Corporation in the 1930s. Design and development The Metal Aircraft Corporation purchased the design from the Halpin Development Co. and unveiled it ...

. In the early 1940s, three new airlines began service, flying

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper versi ...

aircraft through the

near downtown Topeka.

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

, ( TWA), added Topeka as one of many stops on the carriers' transcontinental route between Los Angeles and New York. Topeka was a stop between Wichita and Kansas City. The carrier later upgraded to

Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G ...

aircraft.

Braniff International Airways Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...

added Topeka as one of many stops on their mainline route between Chicago and Houston. Topeka was also a stop between Kansas City and Wichita.

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started ...

added Topeka as a stop on a route between Denver and Kansas City which also included a stop at Salina, Kansas.

Ozark Airlines Ozark Air Lines was an airline that operated in the United States from 1950 until 1986 when it was purchased by Trans World Airlines (TWA). In 2001, TWA was merged into American Airlines. A smaller regional airline that used the Ozark name (a ...

also briefly served Topeka in the early 1950s with a route between Kansas City and Tulsa that stopped in Topeka and two other cities. Ozark and Braniff ended service in 1954, TWA ended in 1958 and Continental ended by 1960.

Central Airlines Central Airlines was a passenger airline (the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) called it a "local service" air carrier) in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas from 1949 to 1967. It was founded by Keith Kahle in 1944 to opera ...

began service in 1958 with DC-3s by picking up the routes to Kansas City and Wichita formerly operated by TWA and Braniff. The carrier then picked up Continental's route to Denver by 1960 using a

Convair 240 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inro ...

and became the only airline at Topeka. Central's service continued until the company merged with the original

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

in 1967. Frontier then served Topeka using 50-seat

Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

aircraft with nonstop flights to Kansas City as well as multi stop flights to Denver, St. Louis, and Wichita. Several air taxi and commuter airlines provided shuttle flights to Kansas City in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including

Trans-Mo Airlines Trans-Mo Airlines was a regional airline and air taxi operator from 1966 until 1983 and based in Jefferson City, Missouri. The airline used Cessna 402 aircraft and published timetables from 1968 to 1983. Destinations As of 1979, Trans-Mo served t ...

, Allen Aviation, Air Associates Inc., and Shawnee Air Commuter. After moving to the current Forbes Field in 1976, Topeka then saw multiple new carriers, some providing jet service:

upgraded their service with

jets direct to Kansas City, Denver, and Wichita, and added flights to

Chicago O'hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop busines ...

with a stop in Lincoln, Nebraska. In the early 1980s, Frontier also operated nonstop jets to Manhattan, KS, and Joplin, MO. The carrier introduced the McDonnell Douglas MD80 jet to Topeka shortly before ending all service in 1984. Capitol Air Service began shuttle flights to Kansas City, Manhattan, and Salina, Kansas, around 1970. From 1987 through 1989, the carrier had a codeshare agreement with the new

Braniff Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...

Airways and operated as Braniff Express. Capitol Air flew

Cessna 402 The Cessna 401 and 402 are a series of 6 to 10 seat, light twin-piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplane ...

and

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restart ...

aircraft and shut down about the time of the Braniff collapse in 1989. Trans Central Airlines provided commuter flights to Oklahoma City and onto Dallas/Fort Worth in 1981 and 1982 using

Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...

aircraft. The original Midway Airlines, provided

Douglas DC-9-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

jet service to Chicago Midway International Airport with a stop in Kansas City from 1982 through 1985. Up to three flights per day were operated.

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

provided mainline jet service in 1986 and 1987 with three daily flights to the carrier's hub at Denver, making one stop at Kansas City or Wichita, and one daily flight to Chicago O'Hare making one stop in Lincoln.

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller air ...

and

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

jets were used.

Air Midwest Air Midwest, Inc., was a Federal Aviation Administration Part 121 certificated air carrier that operated under air carrier certificate number AMWA510A issued on May 15, 1965. It was headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, United States, and was a sub ...

began commuter flights to Kansas City in 1981 using

II aircraft. Air Midwest went on to operate several codeshare services with major airlines, the first being with

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

in 1985. Air Midwest operated as Eastern Express feeding Eastern's hub at Kansas City until 1988 when Eastern dismantled the Kansas City hub operation. By then Braniff had established a hub at Kansas City and Air Midwest became a Braniff Express feeder carrier along with Capitol Air. Within a year Braniff had shut down and Air Midwest reverted to operating under their own branding at Kansas City. Air Midwest also had codeshare agreements with other major airlines, including one with TWA at that carrier's hub in St. Louis. In late 1989, Air Midwest began nonstop flights from Topeka to St. Louis operating as Trans World Express while discontinuing its flights to Kansas City.

British Aerospace Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the British ...

aircraft were used. This service ended in early 1991 as Air Midwest established yet another codeshare agreement at Kansas City with

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon ...

. Flights to Kansas City were restored, now as

US Airways Express US Airways Express was the brand name for the regional affiliate of US Airways, under which a number of individually owned commuter air carriers and regional airlines operate short and medium haul routes. This code sharing service was previously ...

using

Beechcraft 1900 The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With ...

aircraft. This service was long term and continued until Air Midwest ended Topeka service in November, 2003. Air Midwest had the only service at Topeka from 1989 through 2003. The 1980s were the boom years for traffic at Forbes Field as the airport handled up to 180,000 passengers per year. By the 1990s however, the airport saw a dramatic drop in traffic and scheduled passenger service became subsidized by the

Essential Air Service Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service. Its aim is t ...

program. This subsidized service ended in May, 2003, due to federal law prohibiting a subsidy over $200 per passenger for airports within 210 miles of the nearest large or medium hub airport (

, a medium hub, is 71 miles away). This caused the final carrier, Air Midwest dba US Airways Express, to end service. After three years with no service,

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America. Allegiant was founded in 1 ...

came to Topeka in 2006 with nonstop jet flights to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

on two days per week. The carrier used McDonnell Douglas MD80s but ended service on July 30, 2007. An additional effort to revive scheduled airline service was made when

United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

, operated by

ExpressJet ExpressJet Airlines was a regional U.S. airline headquartered in College Park, Georgia. The company originally operated as a contracted codeshare partner, flying under the American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express brands at variou ...

, began flights on January 7, 2014, with two daily Embraer-145 regional jets nonstop to Chicago's

O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop busines ...

. The service only lasted eight months however and ceased on September 2, 2014. ExpressJet for United Express - N26141 (8411649253)

Facilities

Topeka Regional Airport covers 2,854

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

s (1,155 ha) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of 1,078 feet (329 m) above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ...

. It has two concrete

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

s: 13/31 is 12,803 by 200 feet (3,902 x 61 m) and 3/21 is 7,001 by 150 feet (2,134 x 46 m). In the year ending October 31, 2017 the airport had 22,418 aircraft operations, average 61 per day: 65% military, 32%

, 3%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

, and <1% airline. 36 aircraft were then based at this airport: 25% single-engine, 14% multi-engine, 11% jet, and 50% military.

Airlines and destinations

The airport has had no airline service since September 2, 2014.Official Airline Guide September 2014

References

Other sources

* Essential Air Service documents
Docket OST-1996-1352
from the U.S. Department of Transportation: *
Order 2000-7-35 (July 28, 2000)
tentatively re-selecting Air Midwest, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to provide essential air service at Topeka, Kansas, for the two-year period ending December 31, 2001, at an annual subsidy rate totaling $722,199. *
Order 2001-8-13 (August 10, 2001)
tentatively re-selecting Air Midwest, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to provide essential air service at Topeka, Kansas, for the two-year period beginning January 1, 2002, at an annual rate of $621,872. *
Order 2003-2-28 (February 28, 2003)
requests interested persons to show cause why we should not terminate subsidy for essential air service at Topeka, Kansas, and allow Air Midwest, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to suspend service there as of May 1, 2003. *
Order 2003-4-16 (April 18, 2003)
terminates subsidy for essential air service at Topeka, Kansas, and allows Air Midwest, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to suspend service as of May 1, 2003.

External links

Aerial image as of February 2002
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to prov ...

'' * * * {{US-airport, FOE Airports in Kansas Buildings and structures in Shawnee County, Kansas Former Essential Air Service airports 1976 establishments in Kansas