Abilene Regional Airport is a public airport located approximately southeast of downtown Abilene, in Taylor County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The airport is located within the Abilene city limits, and is and owned and operated by the city. Most operations at the airport are general aviation and military training. Abilene Regional is currently hen?served by

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

, operating as American Eagle, operating daily

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace corporation. It develops and manufactures aircraft and aviation systems, and provides leasing, equipment, and technical support services. Embraer is the third largest producer of civil air ...

regional jet flights to Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW). In October 2020,

United Express United Express is a regional airline network that supports United Airlines operations, primarily by serving smaller cities and connecting traffic to United's main hubs. Representing six percent of United's total capacity for 2024, United Express ...

began daily flights to Houston-Intercontinental, operated by

SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah. SkyWest operates and maintains aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by four partner Mainline (air travel), mainline airlines. The comp ...

. The airline ceased all flights to the airport in October 2021, citing staffing issues.

Allegiant Airlines Allegiant Air is an American ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline focuses on serving leisure traffic from small and medium-sized cities which it considers to be underserved, using an ultra low-cost business mo ...

operated twice-weekly flights to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

(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 gener ...

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

Sun Country Airlines Sun Country Airlines is an ultra-low cost airline in the United States. Based at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport with headquarters on airport property, Sun Country operates to about 140 destinations in the United States, Canad ...

, continue to operate flights on an occasional basis from Abilene to Las Vegas with mainline jet aircraft, such as the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

. Air freight service to Abilene is provided primarily by subcontractors. The airport was formerly served by major carriers;

UPS UPS most commonly refers to: * Uninterruptible power supply, a device which provides continuous power to electronics * United Parcel Service, an American courier company UPS or ups may also refer to: Companies and organizations United Parcel S ...

and

USPS The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

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

FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...

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, with its aircraft and crew stationed at Hendrick Medical Center. 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 which are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage continuing to receive some maintenance or parts of the aircraft are removed for reus ...

for American Eagle, which stored around 20 retired

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30–36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 differen ...

turboprop aircraft which remain in the airline's livery. American Eagle replaced these propjets with

regional jets. As of 2023, American Eagle was serving Abilene Airport with flights to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.

Texas State Technical College Texas State Technical College (TSTC) is a public technical college with its main campus near Waco, Texas. TSTC is the State of Texas's only public multicampus technical college, offering associate degrees and certificates in technical skills and ...

provides aviation maintenance training at its on-field hangar base.

Past airline service

In the 1930s, Abilene was a stop on

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

’ overnight service between Dallas and Los Angeles. American's 12-passenger

Curtiss Condor The Curtiss T-32 Condor II was a 1930s American biplane airliner and bomber aircraft built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. It was used by the United States Army Air Corps as an executive transport. Development The Condor II was a 19 ...

s had sleeper berths and flew

Dallas Love Field Dallas Love Field is a city-owned public airport in the neighborhood of Love Field, Dallas, Love Field, northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas., effective April 17, 2025. It was Dallas' main airport until 1974 when Dallas Fort Worth Internation ...

- 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 the 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 ...

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 Air Lines Essair (short for ''Efficiency, Safety, and Speed in the Air'') was incorporated in 1939, the first airline authorized by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to fly as a local service carrier in the United States. Essair Lines changed its ...

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 William P. Hobby Airport —colloquially referred to as Houston Hobby or other short names—is an international airport in Houston, Texas, located from downtown Houston. Hobby is Houston's oldest commercial airport, and was its primary airpor ...

, 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 airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...

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 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 i ...

Convair 440 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 ...

, and the four engine

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. T ...

. In 1959 Viscounts flew direct to

and Albuquerque. Continental left Abilene in 1963, replaced by

Trans-Texas Airways Trans-Texas may refer to: * Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), a transportation network in the planning and early construction stages in the U.S. state of Texas * Trans-Texas Airways, a former a United States airline An airline is a company that prov ...

(TTa). Continental would not return, but

Continental Connection Continental Connection was the brand name under which several commuter airline carriers and their holding companies operated services marketed exclusively by Continental Airlines. As such, all Continental Connection banner carrier services were o ...

Colgan Air Colgan Air was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1965 until 2012, when it became a subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. The initial headquarters of Colgan Air was in Manassas, Virginia, Manassas, Virginia until 2010, and ...

s eventually began flying Abilene to Houston Intercontinental Airport; that ended in 2008. Trans-Texas DC-3s,

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 inroa ...

s, and

Convair 600 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 ...

s flew from Abilene to

and other cities in Texas and New Mexico. Trans-Texas began the first jet service,

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 as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell ...

s by 1968. TTa flew nonstop to Austin and Lubbock and direct to Albuquerque, Amarillo, Houston

, 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 (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. 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) Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 120 destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and employs more than 5,000 staff. ...

began flying

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American 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 retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

s 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 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ 135 (37 passengers), ERJ 140 (44 passengers), and ERJ 145 (50 passen ...

and

Embraer ERJ-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ 135 (37 passengers), ERJ 140 (44 passengers), and ERJ 145 (50 passen ...

s arrived.

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

via

flown by

code sharing A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

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 1976 with

Beechcraft 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by American manufacturer Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, deriv ...

and

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

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 cent ...

. In 1979 Chaparral flew nonstop to both

and

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas region, in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest hub for American Airlines, which is headquartere ...

and also nonstop to Austin and

Houston Hobby Airport William P. Hobby Airport —colloquially referred to as Houston Hobby or other short names—is an international airport in Houston, Texas, located from downtown Houston. Hobby is Houston's oldest commercial airport, and was its primary airpor ...

. It then introduced 37-passenger larger

Grumman Gulfstream I The Grumman Gulfstream I (company designation G-159) is a twin-turboprop business aircraft. It first flew on August 14, 1958. Design and development After first rejecting an idea to develop the Grumman Widgeon as an executive transport, the co ...

-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 became an American Eagle airline flying

code share A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

service for

on December 1, 1984.

Facilities and aircraft

Abilene Regional Airport covers and has two

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

s: 17L/35R , and 17R/35L . In June 1952 it had four runways (045-079-129-180 deg) 3200 to 3684 ft long. The former runway 4/22 has been decommissioned as of 2023. The terminal has seen many expansions and improvements in the past hen?decade. The upper-level houses the airline ticket counters, restaurant, gift shop, airport offices, and two departure gates, each with

Jetway A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exp ...

boarding bridges. The lower level has two baggage carousels and car-rental agencies. Recent hen?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 replaced a tower built in 1959. In the year ending May 31, 2023, the airport had 41,459 aircraft operations, an average of 114 per day: 54%

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

, 29% military, 14%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...

and 3% scheduled commercial. 105 aircraft were based at this airport: 79 single-engine, 17 multi-engine, 8 jet and 1

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

Airline and destination

As of December 2022, all American Eagle flights operated by

on behalf of

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 aircraft, narrow-body, short- to medium-range, twinjet, twin-engined jet airliners designed and produced by Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed to c ...

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

References

External links