St. George Regional Airport

St. George Regional Airport (IATA: SGU, ICAO: KSGU, FAA LID: SGU) is a city-owned, public-use airport located five nautical miles (5.8 miles; 9.3 km) southeast of the central business district of St. George, a city in Washington County, Utah, United States.^[1]

The current airport opened on January 13, 2011, and is a replacement for prior, smaller land-locked St. George Municipal Airport, located atop a mesa in the city, which was declared unsuitable for expansion the city needed for population growth. It is served by SkyWest Airlines on behalf of Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. SkyWest, which is one of the largest regional airlines in the world, is also based in St. George.

The former airport used SGU as the location identifier for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and International Air Transport Association (IATA). The new airport was assigned a transitional identifier DXZ by the FAA, but retained the IATA designation SGU.^[2] On December 15, 2011, the FAA returned SGU to use at the new airport.

History

The prospect of a new airport for the region has been around for many years. The old airport, on top of a mesa, is land-locked and has no room for expansion. The runway and terminal were too small for larger aircraft. With the rapid growth of the area and tourism increasing, the need for a new airport became vital. It was built about 6 miles southeast of downtown at the site of an abandoned airfield which had not seen air traffic since 1961 and most recently has been used for vehicle drag racing and radio controlled aircraft.

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the present airport was completed in August 2006. The study concluded the impact on the environment and noise pollution would be minimal. Plans for the airport included a single runway suitable for regional jets and larger mainline aircraft. SkyWest Airlines operating as the Delta Connection announced that on January 13, 2011 the airline would begin nonstop Canadair CRJ regional jet service to Salt Lake City from the airport. SkyWest subsequently initiated nonstop Canadair CRJ regional jet service to Denver operating as United Express.^[3] The runway was initially planned to be oriented at about 010/190 degrees. It was also initially planned to be 9,300 by 150 feet (2,835 by 46 m) with subsequent plans for the runway to be extended to 11,500 by 150 feet (3,505 by 46 m) feet. The airport has one precision approach. Pilots use Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center for approach services and use a common traffic advisory service frequency because of the lack of an operating control tower.

The new St. George Airport was partially funded by grants from the FAA totaling $123 million. The entire project was expected to cost about 159 million dollars.^[4] The city broke ground on the new site in October 2008 and the airfield opened on January 13, 2011.

On July 13th, 2015, the airport changed its name from St. George Municipal Airport to St. George Regional Airport to attract more airline services to the airport.^[5]

Facilities

St. George Regional Airport has one runway designated 1/19 with an asphalt surface measuring 9,300 by 150 feet (2,835 x 46 m).^[1] The 1,204-acre (487 ha) facility includes a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m²) terminal.^[4]

Airlines and destinations

Historically, the old St. George Municipal Airport located on top of a mesa was served by Bonanza Air Lines which began flights to St. George during the late 1950s with daily Douglas DC-3 service to Salt Lake City via intermediate stops in Cedar City, Utah and Provo, Utah as well as to Phoenix via an intermediate stop in Prescott, AZ.^[6] However, by the early 1960s, Bonanza had replaced all of its DC-3 aircraft with new Fairchild F-27 turboprops. Bonanza had then ceased all flights into the old airport with the DC-3 by this time and instead was serving St. George via Cedar City, Utah with the F-27.^[7] This lack of air service into St. George eventually led to SkyWest Airlines initiating new flights to Salt Lake City on June 19, 1972 via an intermediate stop in Cedar City, Utah.^[8] SkyWest would later introduce Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprops followed by Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprop service into the old airport before shifting all scheduled passenger operations to the new airport.

In November 2016, American Eagle began flying CRJ 200 regional jets operated by SkyWest Airlines into St George from Phoenix.^[9]

Statistics

Top destinations

Accidents and incidents

• On May 26, 2012, at around 1:30 a.m., four people were killed when a Cessna 172 aircraft crashed during take-off from St. George Municipal Airport. Because the airport is not staffed at night and instead uses an automated system, the wreckage was not found until more than 4 hours later. A security camera captured the plane taking off.^[11]
• On July 17, 2012, a SkyWest Airlines Bombardier CRJ200, Delta Connection aircraft, was stolen by a SkyWest employee Brian Hedglin on leave, and substantially damaged at the airport. The terminal and a jetway also were damaged. The plane was not put back in service.^[12]

References

External links

• St. George Municipal Airport, official website
• St. George Replacement Airport Environmental Impact Statement
• FAA Terminal Procedures for SGU, effective December 8, 2016
• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for SGU
  • AirNav airport information for KSGU
  • ASN accident history for SGU
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures