Huron Regional Airport

Huron Regional Airport (IATA: HON, ICAO: KHON, FAA LID: HON) is in Huron, in Beadle County, South Dakota.[1] The airport has scheduled and charter passenger flights on a commuter airline and fixed base operator (FBO), Fly Jet Center.[2]

Huron Regional Airport
Airport terminal, March 2009
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCity of Huron
ServesHuron, South Dakota
Elevation AMSL1,289 ft / 393 m
Coordinates44°23′07″N 098°13′43″W
WebsiteFlyHuron.com/
Map
HON
HON
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 7,201 2,195 Concrete
17/35 5,000 1,524 Concrete
Statistics (2010)
Aircraft operations13,452
Based aircraft27

Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 2,365 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 2,170 in 2009 and 2,016 in 2010. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2015–2019 categorized it as a general aviation airport (the commercial service category requires at least 2,500 enplanements per year).

History

The airport opened as the W. W. Howes Municipal Airport, in 1937,[3] named in honor of William Washington Howes, First Assistant Postmaster General under Franklin Roosevelt. Howes brought airmail service to the Midwest. The airport hangar pictured, below, was named the W. W. Howes hangar in 1998 due to the efforts of Howes' grandson, Dr. Whiting Wicker. The current terminal was opened in 1979[4]

Past airline service

Airline flights at Huron began in the 1930s, on Hanford (a Braniff International Airways predecessor) and on Inland (a Western Airlines predecessor). In 1948 Western Douglas DC-3s stopped at Huron on a multi-stop route between Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul.[5][6][7] By 1956, the airport was part of multi-stop route flown by Western with Convair 240s between Los Angeles and Minneapolis/St. Paul with this flight also serving Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.[8] In 1958 Braniff was serving Huron with a daily multi-stop DC-3 flight linking Minneapolis/St. Paul with Omaha and Kansas City.[9] In 1964 Western was operating larger Douglas DC-6B four engine propliners into the airport on a multi-stop service between Salt Lake City and Minneapolis/St. Paul.[10] Braniff pulled out of Huron in 1959 and Western pulled out at the beginning of 1965.

North Central Airlines DC-3s arrived at Huron around 1959;[11] in 1962 the airport had international service of a sorts as North Central was operating a daily DC-3 flight with a routing of Regina, Saskatchewan - Minot - Bismarck, ND/Mandan, ND - Aberdeen, SD - Huron - Mitchell, SD - Sioux Falls - Sioux City - Omaha.[12] In 1965 North Central was serving Huron with Convair 440s and in 1967 with Convair 580s.[13] By 1972 all North Central flights from Huron were operated with Convair 580 turboprops.[14] In 1979, North Central merged with Southern Airways to form Republic Airlines (1979-1986) which continued to serve Huron with Convair 580s until the end of 1981.[15] Republic was acquired by and merged into Northwest Airlines in 1986.

In 1981 Northern Airlines, a commuter airline, was flying from Huron to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Pierre, SD.

Facilities and aircraft
The hangar

Huron Regional Airport covers 1,235 acres (500 ha) at an elevation of 1,289 feet (393 m) above mean sea level. It has two concrete runways: 12/30 is 7,201 by 100 feet (2,195 x 30 m) and 17/35 is 5,000 by 75 feet (1,524 x 23 m).[1]

In 2010, the airport had 13,452 aircraft operations, averaging 36 per day. Of these, 89% were general aviation, 9% scheduled commercial and 2% military. 27 aircraft were then based at this airport, 82% single-engine, 11% multi-engine and 7% helicopters.[1]

References
  1. FAA Airport Form 5010 for HON PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective April 5, 2012.
  2. https://www.flyjetcenter.com
  3. Huron Plainsman; July 5, 1937
  4. Huron Plainsman; June 17, 1979
  5. Oct. 1, 1948 Western timetable
  6. March 1, 1956 Western Airlines system timetable
  7. March 1, 1964 Western timetable
  8. http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/wa/wa56/wa56-3.jpg
  9. http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/bn58/bn58-05.jpg
  10. http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/wa64/wa64-5.jpg
  11. July 1, 1960 North Central timetable
  12. http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/nc62/nc62-6.jpg
  13. March 1, 1965 & Oct. 29, 1967 North Central timetables
  14. Oct. 29, 1972 North Central timetable
  15. July 1, 1979 Republic timetable

Other sources
  • Essential Air Service documents (Docket OST-2000-7138) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
    • Order 2004-7-5 (July 6, 2004): selects Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to continue providing subsidized essential air service at Pierre, and Air Midwest to provide subsidized essential air service at Brookings and Huron, for a two-year period. Great Lakes' service at Pierre is to consist of 12 weekly nonstop round trips to Denver with 19-seat Beech 1900-D aircraft, at an annual subsidy of $449,912. Air Midwest's service at Brookings and Huron is to consist of 12 weekly flights routed Huron-Brookings-Omaha-Brookings-Huron, with 19-seat Beech 1900-D aircraft, at an annual subsidy of $2,078,727.
    • Order 2006-8-11 (August 11, 2006): selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Brookings and Huron, South Dakota, consisting of two daily one-stop round trips to Denver International Airport, at annual subsidy rates of $1,212,400, and $793,733, respectively, beginning October 1, 2006.
    • Order 2008-7-34 (July 31, 2008): re-selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to continue to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Huron, South Dakota, for the two-year period beginning October 1, 2008, at the annual subsidy rate of $1,781,159.
    • Order 2010-8-12 (August 25, 2010): selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to continue providing subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Huron, South Dakota, for the two-year period beginning October 1, 2010, at the annual subsidy rate $1,742,886.
  • "Huron Regional Airport" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-09-04. Retrieved 2017-04-23. (102 KB) at South Dakota DOT Airport Directory
  • Aerial image as of October 1997 from USGS The National Map
  • FAA Terminal Procedures for HON, effective January 28, 2021
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