State Series: West Virginia

Since the creation of the first airport in 1909 by Wilbur Wright, cities in the United States have come together to create one of the most expansive airport systems in the world. Over the next few months, our writers have taken an in-depth look to see what airports each state has to offer, what its history entails, and what changes we can expect in the future that will continue to shape the airline industry.

West Virginia, home to 1.8 million people is the 38th most populated state in the U.S. located in the Appalachian region. The state joined the United States in June of 1863.

Yeager Airport

Named after Brigadier Chuck Yeager, the airport is the busiest in the state. Yeager Airport (KCRW), situated 4 miles east of downtown Charleston and offers year-round flights to Atlanta, Washington-National & Dulles, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Chicago and Houston. These flights are served by the major airlines’ subsidiaries; American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express. Spirit Airlines also has a seasonal service to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. Last year, the busiest service was to Atlanta, with Delta flying 77,000 passengers to the airport in Georgia. The airport had, on average, 315 movements a day in 2012.

Various military units, including the West Virginia Air National Guard and it’s nine C130 Hercules use the airport.

Tri-State Airport

Located in Wayne County, this airport sits on the border of Kentucky and Ohio. Delta pulled it’s flights from the airport in 2012 leaving Allegiant Air and American Eagle as the only carriers to operate commercially from the field. 2015 saw 204,000 passengers go through it’s airport, up from 190,000 in the previous year. However, 225,000 came through in 2011.

Allegiant Air operates to four flights out of the airport to the following three destinations: Punta Gorda Airport, Sanford Airport, and St Petersberg – Clearwater  Airport in Florida. A seasonal route is also operated to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. American Eagle has a single service to Charlotte, North Carolina, operated by Piedmont Airlines. The latter flight was the busiest in 2015.

North Central West Virginia Airport

North Central West Virginia Airport (KCKB) first opened in 1935 and is located about one mile from the center of Bridgeport. It is a joint-use public and military airport and currently has daily flights to Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport and weekly flights to Charlotte Douglas International Airport on ViaAir. Allegiant also offer flights to Orlando/Sanford International Airport (SFB) and Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR). The airport has around 60 movements a day, approximately 38% of movements are military, 49% general aviation, 11% air taxi and only 3% commercial.

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Jack Dawin

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