Hattiesburg–Laurel Regional Airport , nicknamed Airport City, is a public

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

located in unincorporated Jones County,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. The airport is adjacent to

Interstate 59 Interstate 59 (I-59) is an Interstate Highway located in the southeastern United States. It is a north–south route that spans from a junction with I-10 and I-12 at Slidell, Louisiana, to a junction with I-24 near Wildwood, Georgia ...

, approximately nine

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at t ...

s (10 mi, 17 km) northeast of

Hattiesburg Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and most populous city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 48,730 in 2020, making it the 5th m ...

and 23 miles southwest of

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

. It is mostly used for

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 ...

, but is also served by one commercial airline,

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 ...

. Scheduled passenger service is currently subsidized by the federal

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, maintain commercial service. Its aim is ...

(EAS) program. The runway is long enough to handle

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet Boeing 727, 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The ...

s and

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

s chartered by

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

teams visiting Hattiesburg to play at the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

. The airport's IATA code (PIB) refers to its former name, Pine Belt Regional Airport. Hattiesburg is located halfway between Mississippi's two major airports –

Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport is a joint civil–military public-use airport three nautical miles (6 km) northeast of the central business district of Gulfport, a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is ...

in Gulfport and Jackson–Evers International Airport in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

. The three cities are linked by the four-lane U.S. Highway 49. As per the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

, this airport had 12,576 passenger boardings (enplanements) in

calendar year 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. The Gregorian calendar year, which is in use as civil calendar in ...

2008, 12,972 in 2009, and 13,766 in 2010. The

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. With the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of September 3, 1982, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was required to develop a ...

for 2011–2015 categorized it as a '' primary commercial service'' airport.

Facilities and aircraft

The airport is located in unincorporated Jones County,

. The airport has a

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

post office address,Contact
" Hattiesburg–Laurel Regional Airport. Retrieved on July 15, 2011. "Our Address Airport Director, 1002 Terminal Dr. Moselle, MS 39459" but it is not located in the Moselle

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

. Hattiesburg–Laurel Regional Airport covers an area of 1,170

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s (473 ha) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''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 equipotenti ...

of 298 feet (91 m) above

mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

. It has one

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, ...

designated 18/36 with an asphalt surface measuring 6,502 by 150 feet (1,982 x 46 m). For the 12-month period ending March 1, 2022, the airport had 37,560 aircraft operations, an average of 103 per day: 95%

, 4% scheduled commercial, and <1%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. At that time 58 aircraft were based at this airport: 41 single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

, 8 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 ...

. In late 2011 the airport began an extensive refurbishment of the main terminal building. In early 2022,

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 ...

Ground announced it would begin construction on a $12 million distribution center in the airport. The project will add over 200 jobs and cover over 200,000 square feet of space.

Historical airline service

Southern Airways Southern Airways was a local service carrier, a scheduled airline certificated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board, in the United States, from its founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979, when it merged with North Central Airlines to b ...

had begun serving Laurel by 1955 with

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 ...

aircraft flying a daily round trip routing of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, ninth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, and the largest city by population in the Mississippi Delta region. It is the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, Was ...

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 21,573 at the 2020 census. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vicksburg ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

- Laurel -

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport ( ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States, and its co-county seat. It had a population of 72,926 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Mississippi, second-most populous ...

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. By 1960, Southern was serving both Laurel and Hattiesburg as each city had its own airport at this time with the respective three letter airport codes being LUL and HBG according to the airline's system timetable with Southern operating daily round trip DC-3 service on a routing of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Anniston, Alabama Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama, Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area, Anniston–Oxford Metropo ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, ...

- Laurel - Hattiesburg - Gulfport -

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. The new Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport (PIB) opened in July, 1974 and Southern began operating all of its flights from this airport with

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 ...

jets with two daily flights operated on round trip routings of Atlanta - Birmingham - Meridian - Hattiesburg/Laurel - New Orleans. There was also one Memphis -

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi, Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the ...

- Meridian - Hattiesburg/Laurel round trip flight. Southern Airways then merged with

North Central Airlines North Central Airlines was a local service carrier, a scheduled airline in the Midwestern United States. Founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, the company moved to Madison in 1947. This is also when the "Her ...

to form

Republic Airlines Republic Airlines was an airline in the United States that operated from 1979 until it merged with Northwest Airlines in 1986. Republic was formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways on July 1, 1979. Their headquar ...

which in turn was continuing to serve the airport in 1979 with Douglas DC-9-10 jets as well as with larger McDonnell Douglas DC-9-50 jets in addition to

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 inro ...

turboprop aircraft with nonstop and direct one stop DC-9 flights from Atlanta, nonstop Convair 580 flights from New Orleans, direct one stop Convair 580 flights from Memphis, and nonstop DC-9 and Convair 580 flights from Meridian.Dec. 1, 1979 Official Airline Guide, North American edition, Laurel/Hattiesburg flight schedules Also in 1979, Universal Airways, a commuter airline, was operating nonstop service between the airport and New Orleans with three round trip flights every weekday operated with small

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 ...

turboprops. Republic was continuing to provide scheduled passenger service into PIB in the summer of 1984; however, according to its April 28, 1985 route map the airline was no longer serving the airport by this time. Two regional airlines were serving the airport in late 1989 including the

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a brand name under which Delta Air Lines has air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to their network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic mark ...

operated by

Atlantic Southeast Airlines Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) was a regional airline in the United States based in the A-Tech Center in College Park, Georgia, flying to 144 destinations as a Delta Connection carrier on behalf of Delta Air Lines via a code sharing agre ...

(ASA) on behalf of

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

on a

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 ...

basis with direct one stop

Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series o ...

turboprop flights from Atlanta via Meridian, and

Northwest Airlink Northwest Airlink was the brand name of Northwest Airlines' regional airline service, which flew turboprop and regional jet aircraft from Northwest's domestic hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit, and Memphis. Service was primarily to small-to-medium- ...

operated by

Express Airlines I Endeavor Air is a regional airline in the United States headquartered at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, and staffs, operates, and maintains aircra ...

on behalf of

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 until it Delta Air Lines–Northwest Airlines merger, merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline ...

on a code sharing basis with direct one stop

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

BAe 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 Britis ...

and

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 flights from Memphis also via Meridian. By the spring of 1995, Northwest Airlink was the only airline serving the airport with nonstop and direct one stop flights from Memphis as well as nonstop flights from

Jackson, MS Jackson is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River and is located in the greater Jackson Prairie region of Mississippi. Along with Raymond, Jackson is one of two county seats fo ...

, Meridian and Tupelo, MS operated with BAe Jetstream 31 and Saab 340 turboprops.April 2, 1995 OAG Desktop Flight Guide, North American edition, Laurel/Hattiesburg flight schedule

Airline and destinations

Statistics

Non-scheduled and charter service

With its close proximity to the

, the airport sees numerous charters operated with such jetliners as the

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

and

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 ...

transporting teams to and from athletic events.

References

Other sources

* Essential Air Service documents
Docket DOT-OST-2001-10685
from the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

: *
Notice of Termination of Service (September 21, 2001)
Express Airlines I d/b/a Northwest Airlink submits notice of its intent to terminate service to Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi, effective January 1, 2002. *
Order 2002-5-28 (June 3, 2002)
selects Mesaba Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Northwest Airlink, to provide two nonstop round trips a day between Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Memphis beginning when the carrier inaugurates service at an annual subsidy rate of $1,056,991. *
Order 2004-8-11 (August 17, 2004)
re-selecting Mesaba Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Northwest Airlink, to provide essential air service (EAS) at Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for the period from July 1, 2004, through June 30, 2006, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,100,253. *
Order 2006-6-7 (June 9, 2006)
re-selecting Mesaba Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Northwest Airlink, to provide essential air service (EAS) at Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for the two-year period beginning July 1, 2006, at an annual subsidy rate of $917,129. *
Order 2008-4-2 (April 4, 2008)
re-selecting Mesaba Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Northwest Airlink, to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at the hyphenated communities of Hattiesburg and Laurel, Mississippi, through the Hattiesburg–Laurel Regional Airport for the two-year period beginning July 1, 2008, for an annual subsidy of $1,191,435 with 34-seat Saab 340 turboprop aircraft. *
Order 2010-5-16 (May 13, 2010)
selecting Mesaba Aviation, Inc. d/b/a Delta Connection, to continue providing subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for the two-year period beginning July 1, 2010, at the annual subsidy rate of $1,398,798. *
Ninety Day Notice (July 15, 2011)
from MESABA AVIATION, INC. and PINNACLE AIRLINES, INC. of termination of service at Laurel/Hattiesburg, MS. *
Order 2012-5-17 (May 22, 2012)
selecting Silver Airways, formerly Gulfstream International Airways, to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Greenville, Laurel/Hattiesburg, and Tupelo, Mississippi, and Greenbrier/White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia (Lewisburg), using 34-passenger Saab 340 aircraft, for a combined annual subsidy of $16,098,538. *
Order 2012-6-3 (June 6, 2012)
extending the Essential Air Service obligation of the two wholly owned subsidiaries of Pinnacle Airlines Corporation—Mesaba Aviation, Inc. and Pinnacle Airlines, d/b/a Delta Connection at the eight communities listed below (Muscle Shoals, AL; Alpena, MI; Iron Mountain/Kingsford, MI; Brainerd, MN; International Falls, MN; Greenville, MS; Laurel/Hattiesburg, MS; Tupelo, MS) for 30 days, through, July 9, 2012. *
Notice of Intent (April 9, 2014)
of Silver Airways Corp. ... to discontinue subsidized scheduled air service between Atlanta, Georgia (ATL) and each of Muscle Shoals, Alabama (MSL), Greenville, Mississippi (GLH), Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi (PIB), and Tupelo, Mississippi (TUP). Silver Airways intends to discontinue this service on July 8, 2014 or such earlier date as permitted by the Department in any final order terminating the eligibility of any of these communities under the essential air service (EAS) program. *
Order 2014-4-24 (April 22, 2014)
prohibits Silver Airways Corp., from terminating service at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Greenville, Laurel/Hattiesburg, Meridian, and Tupelo, Mississippi, for 30 days beyond the end of the air carrier’s 90-day notice period, i.e. August 7, 2014. We are also requesting proposals from air carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service (EAS) at Muscle Shoals, Greenville, Laurel/Hattiesburg, Meridian, and/or Tupelo.

External links

*
Aerial image as of January 1996
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a Collaboration, 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 eff ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport Airports in Mississippi Essential Air Service Hattiesburg, Mississippi Laurel micropolitan area Buildings and structures in Jones County, Mississippi Transportation in Jones County, Mississippi