Sarasotaâ€"Bradenton International Airport (IATA: SRQ, ICAO: KSRQ, FAA LID: SRQ) is in Sarasota County (terminal) and Manatee County (airfield), Florida. Owned by the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority, it is three miles north of Sarasota (Sarasota County) and six miles south of Bradenton (Manatee County).
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011â€"2015 called it a primary commercial service airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings per year. Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 657,157 enplanements in 2011, 2% less than in 2010.
Most airlines refer to the airport on maps and flight status displays as just "Sarasota", the more widely known city. The airport is referred to locally as "SRQ" (the airport code). Much of the airline service occurs during winter and spring, as the area is a tourist destination and home for snowbirds during winter and spring.
The airport's IATA airport code, "SRQ", is used as a general nickname for the city of Sarasota and Sarasota area, as exemplified by media outlets like SRQ Magazine, WSRQ radio, and numerous local businesses in the area that include SRQ in their names.
History
Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) -
National was SRQ's first airline, moving from Sarasota's old airport by 1945; the April 1957 OAG shows six NA departures a day. Eastern arrived in 1961 and the airport's first jet flights were Eastern 727s in winter 1964â€"65 (though the longest runway was 5006 ft for a few years after that).
Airport referendum (1978)
In 1978, there was a controversial proposal to move the airport by both Sarasota County and Manatee County due to airport overcrowding.
September 11 Attacks
Air Force One was at the airport on September 11, 2001. George W. Bush was at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota when Andrew Card first informed him of the September 11, 2001 attacks at 9:05 AM. Bush returned to the airport. It taxied at 9:54 AM and lifted off at 9:55 AM flying first to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
Like many American airports, Sarasotaâ€"Bradenton International Airport experienced financial woes after the September 11, 2001 attacks with airlines leaving, such as Canada 3000.
2003-Present
In 2003 AirTran Airways began service after a nationwide marketing poll by the airline. AirTran added service to Hartsfieldâ€"Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Baltimoreâ€"Washington International Airport, and by 2011 the airline served six U.S. cities nonstop from SRQ.
In September 2005 Delta Air Lines, the carrier with the largest market share out of SRQ, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While initially there was concern regarding Delta's bankruptcy filing's effect on the financial stability of the airport, especially if Delta were to have reduced local operations, in fact Delta has since announced new service out of SRQ, with more flights to Atlanta and new service to New York LaGuardia Airport and Boston. All of that service was cut back or discontinued, but Delta recently announced new winter/spring seasonal service to Boston and LaGuardia.
In January 2012 AirTran Airways announced that it would drop SRQ on August 12, 2012 as part of its merger with Southwest.
The airport has two fixed-base operators; Rectrix Aviation and Dolphin Aviation.
The "Q" in SRQ
In the 1940s SRQ was known by its two-character designation, RS. By 1948, growth in aviation demand prompted IATA to coordinate the assignment of three-character codes. The airport initially received the designation "SSO", a short-lived code subject to misinterpretation as the international distress signal, SOS. SRQ was chosen, with "Q" serving as filler text.
Governance
The current President, CEO is Fredrick "Rick" J. Piccolo. The airport is governed by the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority. The board is six governor appointed individuals, three from Sarasota County and three from Manatee County, since the airport has portions in each county.
Facilities
The airport covers 1,102 acres (446 ha) at an elevation of 30 feet (9 m). It has two asphalt runways: 14/32 is 9,500 by 150 feet (2,896 x 46 m) and 4/22 is 5,009 by 150 feet (1,527 x 46 m).
In 2013 the airport had 103,411 aircraft operations, average 283 per day: 78% general aviation, 13% airline, 7% air taxi, and 2% military. 247 aircraft were then based at this airport: 69% single-engine, 14% jet, 13% multi-engine, and 4% helicopter.
Annual enplanements
The table lists annual enplanements from the Federal Aviation Administration's Terminal Area Forecast 2011. An enplanement is a revenue generating passenger boarding an aircraft.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Statistics
References
External links
- Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, official site
- Sarasota/Bradenton Regional Airport 1959â€"1989 at the Wayback Machine (archived October 14, 2008)
- History of Airline Service at Sarasota 1930s-1960s
- Sarasota Bradenton Airport in the 1970s, An extensive history of airline service
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective March 1, 2018
- FAA Terminal Procedures for SRQ, effective March 1, 2018
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KSRQ
- ASN accident history for SRQ
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KSRQ
- FAA current SRQ delay information
