Southeast Iowa Regional Airport – also known as SIRA – is a public airport located two miles southwest of Burlington, in Des Moines County,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. It is owned by the Southeast Iowa Regional Airport Authority which includes representatives from the city of Burlington, the city of West Burlington, and Des Moines County. The airport is 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 ...

and sees one airline, a service subsidized by the federal government's

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 ...

program at a cost of $1,917,566 (per year). 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 2021–2025 categorized it as a ''non-primary commercial service'' airport (between 2,500 and 10,000 enplanements per year).

History

The airport launched in 1929 when the Burlington City Council adopted a resolution to establish a municipal airport on an L-shaped sod field on Summer Street in Burlington, Iowa. Scheduled passenger service started in 1931 when the National Air Transport company added Burlington to its

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

route. National's two ten-seat

Ford Trimotor The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American Trimotor, three-engined transport plane, transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, afte ...

s made two daily flights to Burlington. Braniff Airlines began two daily departures to Kansas City in 1944; in 1956 Braniff was replaced by Ozark, which pulled out of Burlington in 1982. In 1943, a contract was signed with the U.S. government to pave the runways and expand the site to . In 1947 a long-range airport development plan was created for building a

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel with a semi-circular cross-section. The design was developed in the United States based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I. Hund ...

administrative building, a U-shaped entrance road with parking, a gasoline service station for aircraft, a tourist court with recreational facilities, a maintenance building and hangars. The airport's hours of operation were extended in 1959 when runway lights were installed, enabling flights to take off and land at night. In 1967 an aviation easement allowed the north-south runway to be widened and extended . The terminal building was remodeled in 1989. In 1996, the name was changed from Burlington Regional Airport to Southeast Iowa Regional Airport. SIRA employs about 20 people. Passengers report that the laid-back, inviting atmosphere at the airport reminds them of the TV show ''Wings''.

Facilities and aircraft

The airport covers 537

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s (217 ha) at an elevation of 698 feet (213 m). It has two runways: 18/36 is 6,102 by 100 feet (1,860 x 30 m)

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 ...

and 12/30 is 5,351 by 100 feet (1,631 x 30 m)

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

. For the year ending July 30, 2019 the airport had 20,172 aircraft operations, an average of 55 per day: 74%

, 16%

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 ...

, 9% airline and less than 1% military. In December 2021, there were 32 aircraft based at this airport: 28 single-engine, 2 multi-engine, 1 jet and 1 helicopter.

Airline and destinations

Passenger

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

On November 19, 1996 United Express Flight 5925 (operated by Great Lakes Airlines) departed Burlington bound for Quincy, IL. It later collided with a King Air near the runway 4/13 intersection at Quincy Regional Airport. The probable cause was that the King Air pilots did not monitor the

Common Traffic Advisory Frequency Common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) is the name given to the VHF radio frequency used for air-to-air communication at United States and Australian non-towered airports. Many towered airports close their towers overnight, keeping the airpo ...

due to Quincy having very low air traffic. 12 people died in the accident; seven were employees of

Dresser Industries Dresser Industries was a multinational corporation headquartered in Dallas, Texas, United States, which provided a wide range of technology, products, and services used for developing energy and natural resources. In 1998, Dresser merged with its ...

in Burlington. On May 30, 2013, winds from a severe thunderstorm damaged and destroyed several hangars. No one was injured.

References

Other sources

* Essential Air Service documents
Docket OST-2001-8731
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 ...

: *
Order 2005-6-14
re-selecting RegionsAir, Inc. d/b/a American Connection, formerly known as Corporate Airlines, to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at each of the above communities (Burlington, IA; Cape Girardeau, MO; Ft. Leonard Wood, MO; Jackson, TN; Marion/Herrin, IL; Owensboro, KY; Kirksville, MO) for a new two-year period from June 1, 2005, through May 31, 2007, for a combined annual subsidy of $7,306,249. Also by this order, the Department is terminating the show-cause proceeding tentatively terminating subsidy at Kirksville, Missouri, as RegionsAir's selected proposal is below the $200-per-passenger cap. *
Order 2007-3-5
selecting Big Sky Transportation Co., d/b/a Big Sky Airlines, and Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at the above communities (Burlington, IA; Cape Girardeau, MO; Fort Leonard Wood, MO; Jackson, TN; Marion/Herrin, IL, Owensboro, KY) for the two-year period from June 1, 2007, through May 31, 2009, using 19-seat Beech 1900D turboprop aircraft as follows: Big Sky at Cape Girardeau, Jackson, and Owensboro for a combined annual subsidy of $3,247,440; and Great Lakes at Burlington, Fort Leonard Wood, and Marion/Herrin for a combined annual subsidy of $2,590,461. *
Order 2009-10-13
selecting Hyannis Air Service, Inc. d/b/a Cape Air, to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Marion/Herrin, Quincy, and Cape Girardeau, for a two-year period beginning when Cape Air inaugurates full EAS at each of the three communities and ending at the close of the 24th month thereafter, at a combined annual subsidy rate of $5,469,768 ($2,053,783 for Marion/Herrin, $1,946,270 for Quincy, and $1,469,715 for Cape Girardeau). The Department is selecting Multi-Aero, Inc. d/b/a Air Choice One to provide subsidized EAS at Decatur, Illinois, and Burlington, Iowa, for a two-year period beginning when it inaugurates full EAS and ending at the close of the 24th month thereafter, at a combined annual subsidy of $5,253,644 ($3,082,403 for Decatur and $2,171,241 for Burlington). The Department is selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (Great Lakes) to provide subsidized EAS at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for the two-year period from November 1, 2009, through October 31, 2011, at an annual subsidy of $1,292,906. *
Order 2011-12-17
re-selecting Multi-Aero, Inc. d/b/a Air Choice One to provide essential air service (EAS) at Burlington, Iowa, and Decatur, Illinois, at a combined annual subsidy rate of $4,727,307 ($1,976,872 for Burlington and $2,750,435 for Decatur), for a one-year period from February 1, 2012, through January 31, 2013.

External links

Southeast Iowa Regional Airport
official website * * {{authority control Airports in Iowa Essential Air Service Buildings and structures in Burlington, Iowa Transportation buildings and structures in Des Moines County, Iowa Airports established in 1929 1929 establishments in Iowa