Abilene Regional Airport is a public airport 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Abilene, in Taylor County, Texas. It is within the Abilene city limits and owned and operated by the city. Most operations at the airport are general aviation and military training. Abilene Regional is currently served by

Envoy Air Envoy Air Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airl ...

, operating as American Eagle, operating daily

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace manufacturer that produces commercial, military, executive and agricultural aircraft, and provides aeronautical services. It was founded in 1969 in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, where i ...

regional jet flights to Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW). In October 2020, United Express began daily flights to Houston-Intercontinental, operated by

SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah, United States. SkyWest is paid to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. The ...

. The airline ceased all flights to the airport in October 2021, citing staffing issues. Allegiant Airlines operated twice-weekly flights to Las Vegas (LAS) with

McDonnell Douglas MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gene ...

jetliners in 2006–07 before ceasing all service to Abilene. Charter air carriers such as

Sun Country Airlines Sun Country Airlines is an American ultra-low-cost passenger and cargo airline, and the eleventh largest in the US by passengers carried. Based at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport with headquarters on airport property, Sun Coun ...

continue to operate flights on an occasional basis from ABI to Las Vegas with mainline jet aircraft such as the Boeing 737. Air freight service to Abilene is provided primarily by subcontractors. The airport was formerly served by major carriers;

UPS UPS or ups may refer to: Companies and organizations * United Parcel Service, an American shipping company ** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary ** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary * Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...

and USPS now primarily truck their overnight packages in from Dallas-Fort Worth, and most Abilene-bound

FedEx FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...

Express shipments are sent through Lubbock. Native Air (formerly Southwest Medevac) housed an emergency medical helicopter and crew at the airport for about 10 years, but closed the base in 2014. The city's remaining emergency medical helicopter service is provided by

Air Evac Lifeteam Air Evac EMS, Inc., operating as Air Evac Lifeteam and sometimes called simply Air Evac, is an American helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) or air ambulance provider headquartered in O'Fallon, Missouri. It is the largest subsidiary of ...

, with its aircraft and crew stationed at

Hendrick Medical Center Hendrick may refer to: People * Hendrick (given name), alternative spelling of the Dutch given name Hendrik * Hendrick (surname) * King Hendrick (disambiguation), one of two Mohawk leaders who have often been conflated: ** Hendrick Tejonihokarawa ( ...

. Abilene Regional is also home to Eagle Aviation Services, Inc., which is a heavy-maintenance base for all American Eagle aircraft. Basically every plane in the airline's fleet is maintained at ABI. The airport grounds also acted as an

aircraft boneyard An aircraft boneyard or aircraft graveyard is a storage area for aircraft that are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage with some maintenance or have their parts removed for reuse or resale and are then sc ...

for American Eagle, which stored around 20 retired Saab 340 turboprop aircraft which remain in the airline's livery. American Eagle replaced these propjets with

regional jets. Texas State Technical College provides aviation maintenance training at its on-field hangar base.

Past airline service

In the 1930s Abilene was a stop on American Airlines overnight service between Dallas and Los Angeles.http://www.timetableimages.com, June 15, 1934 American Airlines timetable American's 12-passenger Curtiss Condors had sleeper berths and flew

Dallas Love Field Dallas Love Field is a city-owned public airport northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas., effective April 10, 2008 It was Dallas' main airport until 1974 when Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened. Love Field covers an area of a ...

- Ft. Worth - Abilene - Big Spring, TX - El Paso - Douglas, AZ - Tucson - Phoenix - Los Angeles. In the 1940s American's

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 version ...

s flew Dallas Love Field - Abilene - Big Spring - El Paso - Tucson - Phoenix - San Diego - Los Angeles. American left Abilene in 1949 and would not return until American Eagle service began in the 1980s. Starting in the 1940s Pioneer Airlines

s and

Martin 2-0-2 The Martin 2-0-2 was an airliner introduced in 1947. The twin piston-engined fixed-wing aircraft was designed and built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. Design and development Glenn L. Martin, president of the company, intended that the Model ...

s flew to

, Houston Hobby Airport, Albuquerque, Fort Worth, Amarillo, Lubbock and other cities in Texas and New Mexico. Pioneer was merged into

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 o ...

in 1955; Continental DC-3s flew to cities served by Pioneer and added direct service to San Antonio. In 1958-59 Continental served Abilene with the Convair 340, Convair 440, and the four engine Vickers Viscount. In 1959 Viscounts flew direct to

and Albuquerque. Continental left Abilene in 1963, replaced by Trans-Texas Airways (TTa). Continental would not return, but Continental Connection

Colgan Air Colgan Air was an American certificated regional airline subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. The headquarters of Colgan Air were located in Memphis, Tennessee. Colgan Air operated for Continental Express/United Express, and US Airways Express ...

Saab 340s eventually began flying Abilene to Houston Intercontinental Airport; that ended in 2008. Trans-Texas DC-3s, Convair 240s, and Convair 600s flew from Abilene to

and other cities in Texas and New Mexico. Trans-Texas began the first jet service, Douglas DC-9-10s by 1968.http://www.timetableimages.com, August/September 1968 Trans-Texas timetable TTa flew nonstop to Austin and Lubbock and direct to Albuquerque, Amarillo, Houston Hobby Airport, San Antonio and Santa Fe. Most flights were Convair 600s but some DC-9s flew via Dallas direct to Austin and Houston. Trans-Texas Airways changed its name to

Texas International Texas International Airlines Inc. was a United States airline, known from 1940 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways (TTa), and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Continental Airlines ...

(TI) and continued DC-9 and Convair 600 flights at Abilene. TI served Amarillo and Lubbock from Abilene, and DC-9s flew to Dallas Love Field and to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport (DFW) after it opened. In 1970 Texas International had four flights a day to Dallas, two being DC-9s. Both DC-9 flights to Dallas continued direct to San Antonio. TI Convair 600s flew to Albuquerque, and a DC-9 flew nonstop to San Angelo, an extension of a flight from Dallas. In 1976 the airport had international service of a sort as Texas International DC-9s flew direct to Mexico City four days a week via Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston. The OAG lists TI DC-9s from Austin, Laredo, McAllen, San Angelo and San Antonio in addition to the service from Dallas/Fort Worth. In 1979 Texas International scheduled up to four nonstop DC-9s a day from San Antonio to ABI in addition to the four DC-9s a day to Dallas/Ft. Worth.http://www.departedflights.com, Nov. 15, 1979 Official Airline Guide With the merger of Texas International and

, TI left Abilene and the airport lost its only jet service in the early 1980s. Jet service returned in 1984 when the original Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) began flying Boeing 737-200s direct to Denver via Midland/Odessa. By spring 1985 Frontier had dropped Abilene, which again lost jet service. Reliable jet service would not return to Abilene until American Eagles Embraer ERJ-140 and Embraer ERJ-145s arrived. United Airlines via United Express flown by

code sharing In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

partner

operated nonstop service to Houston from October 2020 to October 2021.

Chaparral Airlines

Chaparral Airlines was a regional airline based in Abilene that began service in the 1970s with Beechcraft 99 and

CASA 212 The CASA C-212 Aviocar is a turboprop-powered STOL medium cargo aircraft designed and built by the Spanish aircraft manufacturer Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). It is designed for use by both civil and military operators. The C-212 ...

twin engine turboprops as well as small twin engine piston powered

Piper Aircraft Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th centur ...

. In 1979 Chaparral flew nonstop to both

and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and also nonstop to Austin and Houston Hobby Airport. It then introduced 37-passenger larger Grumman Gulfstream I-Cs, a stretched version of the Gulfstream I business propjet. In 1984 Chaparral flew nonstop from Abilene to Austin, Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) and Houston Hobby and to San Antonio via Austin. Chaparral would eventually become an American Eagle airline flying code share service for American Airlines.

Facilities and aircraft

Abilene Regional Airport covers and has three asphalt runways: 4/22, 3,678 x 100 ft (1,121 x 30 m), 17L/35R 7,198 x 150 ft (2,194 x 46 m), and 17R/35L 7,202 x 150 ft (2,195 x 46 m). In June 1952 it had four runways (045-079-129-180 deg) 3200 to 3684 ft long. The terminal has seen many expansions and improvements in the past decade. The upper-level houses the airline ticket counters, restaurant, gift shop, airport offices, and two departure gates, each with Jetway boarding bridges. The lower level has two baggage carousels and car-rental agencies. Recent improvements include the reconstruction of the airline ramps near the terminal and a new, expanded public parking lot. The new lot has 731 covered parking spaces and escalator access to the upper level. Construction of the airport's new -tall control tower began in August 2010 and was completed in January 2012. This new tower replaces a tower built in 1959. In 2006 the airport had 78,462 aircraft operations, an average of 214 per day: 50% general aviation, 32% military, 18% air taxi and <1% scheduled commercial. 98 aircraft are based at this airport: 78% single-engine, 16% multi-engine, 5% jet and 1% helicopter.

Airline and destination

A GDS search indicated that Delta Air Lines would begin service to/from Atlanta in April 2014; however, Abilene Airport officials stated on their Twitter account that there would be no such service. As of December 2022, all American Eagle flights operated by

on behalf of American Airlines between Abilene (ABI) and Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) were being flown with

Embraer E175 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding E ...

regional jets.http://www.aa.com, Dec. 1, 2022 American Airlines system timetable

References

External links

* * * {{Airports with boneyards Airports in Texas Buildings and structures in Abilene, Texas Transportation in Taylor County, Texas