Borrego Valley Airport

Borrego Valley Airport (IATA: BXS[2], FAA LID: L08) is a county-owned public airport three miles east of Borrego Springs, in San Diego County, California, United States.[1]

Borrego Valley Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCounty of San Diego
ServesBorrego Springs, California
Elevation AMSL520 ft / 158 m
Coordinates33°15′32″N 116°19′16″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
8/26 5,011 1,527 Asphalt
Statistics (2004)
Aircraft operations22,000
Based aircraft28

Facilities

The airport covers 198 acres (80 ha) at an elevation of 520 feet (158 m). Its one runway (8/26) is 5,011 x 75 ft (1,527 x 23 m) asphalt.[1]

In 2004 the airport had 22,000 aircraft operations, average 60 per day: 99.9% general aviation and 0.1% military. 28 aircraft were then based at the airport: 64% single-engine, 7% multi-engine, 7% helicopter and 21% ultralight.[1]

Attractions

The International Aerobatic Club has a practice and competition area just north of the airport. The area was designated in 1976 and has a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration. Aerobatic pilots from California and the southwest US regularly use it for practice and major competitive events; users have included three past national champions. Visitors are welcome to come to the airport and watch the flight activity, which does not interfere with other operations. Two annual competitions are sponsored by the San Diego Aerobatic Club,[3] in April and October.

Past airline passenger service

Borrego Springs Airlines, a locally based commuter air carrier, was serving the airport from the late 1960s with scheduled nonstop flights to San Diego (SAN) and Palm Springs (PSP) operated with Cessna 402 twin prop aircraft.[4] By 1975, the airline had changed its name to Sun Aire Lines and upgraded its fleet with 19-passenger seat Swearingen Metro II turboprops and was continuing to operate nonstop service to San Diego and Palm Springs.[5] In the early 1980s the carrier was operating nonstop service to Los Angeles (LAX) as well as direct service to Phoenix (PHX) via intermediate stops in Imperial (IPL) and Yuma (YUM) with Metro II propjets.[6] In 1984, Sun Aire was acquired by SkyWest Airlines which in turn continued to serve Borrego Springs with Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (Metro III) propjets with flights to several destinations in southern California and Arizona. SkyWest became affiliated with Western Airlines in 1986 and all flights then code-shared with Western, operating as Western Express. One year later in 1987, Western Airlines was merged into Delta Airlines and all SkyWest flights began operating as Delta Connection. SkyWest/Delta Connection ceased all flights to the Borrego Springs airport on September 30, 1989.[7]

The airport currently does not have scheduled passenger air service.

References
  1. FAA Airport Form 5010 for L08 PDF, effective 2008-09-25.
  2. Airport information for BXS at Great Circle Mapper.
  3. http://www.iac36.org | San Diego Aerobatic Club
  4. http://www.timetableimages.com, Borrego Springs Airlines system timetables
  5. http://www.departedflights.com, April 15, 1975 Official Airline Guide (OAG), San Diego-Borrego Springs & Palm Springs-Borrego Springs flight schedules
  6. http://www.departedflights.com, June 1, 1982 Sun Aire Lines system timetable
  7. http://www.departedflights.com, Nov. 15, 1985; April 3, 1988; June 1, 1989 SkyWest Airlines route maps


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