Mobile Downtown Airport
Mobile Downtown Airport (IATA: BFM, ICAO: KBFM, FAA LID: BFM) is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district of Mobile, a city in Mobile County, Alabama, United States.[1] The airport is a principal component of the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, a 1,650-acre (668 ha) industrial complex. It is owned and operated by the Mobile Airport Authority.[2] Prior to 1969, the airport was part of an active military installation known as Brookley Air Force Base.
Mobile Downtown Airport | |||||||||||||||
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USGS aerial image, 2002 | |||||||||||||||
Summary | |||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
Owner/Operator | Mobile Airport Authority | ||||||||||||||
Serves | Mobile, Alabama | ||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 26 ft / 8 m | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 30°37′36″N 088°04′05″W | ||||||||||||||
Website | http://www.flybfm.com | ||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||
BFM Location in Alabama | |||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2010) | |||||||||||||||
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According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013, it is categorized as a general aviation facility.[3] This was a change from the 2007–2011 NPIAS Report, when it was categorized as a reliever airport.[4]
Facilities
The airport has a control tower and has both a 9,600-by-150-foot (2,926 m × 46 m) runway and a 7,800-by-150-foot (2,377 m × 46 m) runway. Various instrument approaches to all runways are available, including an on-site VORTAC and instrument landing system (ILS). The complex is served by a 24-hour fixed-base operator, Signature Flight Services.
Starting in late 2018, the Mobile Airport Authority began renovating an underutilized building partially occupied by Airbus into a low cost carrier passenger airport facility called Terminal 1. After its opening on May 1, 2019, Terminal 1 houses two boarding gates and five ticket counters. Frontier Airlines Flight 410 from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport was the first scheduled revenue flight, arriving at the facility on May 1. In the summer of 2019, the authority plans to take over the remaining space in the building to completely build out Terminal 1. After this build-out, Terminal 1 will have four gates and additional holding and concession space. The total square footage will be around 50,000 square feet.[5]
Terminal 1 is located at the southern terminus of Michigan Avenue in the Brookley complex, less than a mile south of Interstate 10.
Operations
For the 12-month period ending January 31, 2010, the airport had 82,820 aircraft operations, an average of 226 per day: 49% general aviation, 43% military, 5% air taxi, and 3% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 34 aircraft based at this airport: 65% single-engine, 18% multi-engine, 15% jet and 3% helicopter.[1]
Airlines and destinations
In 2018, the Mobile Airport Authority commissioned a study on whether to move passenger service to Downtown Airport from Mobile Regional Airport and announced ViaAir would start a route to Orlando in the spring.[6] In January 2019, Frontier Airlines announced new service to Denver and Chicago beginning in May 2019.[7] ViaAir announced they were ending most scheduled services network-wide, including at BFM, on May 23, 2019.[8] On January 7, 2020, Frontier announced it would suspend all service to BFM, leaving the airport with no commercial passenger service.[9] However, on April 13, 2020, Frontier announced it would stay at the Downtown Airport and commence service to Orlando. [10] On June 4, 2020, it was announced that Frontier has ceased all operations at BFM.[11]
Cargo
Airlines | Destinations |
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FedEx Express | Memphis |
Destinations map
Destinations map |
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See also
References
- FAA Airport Master Record for BFM (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 29 July 2010.
- "The People of Brookley Complex". Brookley Complex website. Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
- National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013: Appendix A: Part 1 (PDF, 1.33 MB). Federal Aviation Administration. Updated 15 October 2008.
- 2007–2011 NPIAS Report: Appendix A: Part 1 (PDF, 1.26 MB). Federal Aviation Administration. Updated 6 October 2006.
- https://www.al.com/news/2019/03/mobile-readies-itself-for-downtown-airports-may-1-opening.html
- Specker, Lawrence (February 28, 2018). "Passenger flights from Downtown Mobile Airport feasible by year's end". AL.com. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
- Liesch, Dale (January 22, 2019). "Frontier Airlines announces nonstop low-cost flights to Denver and Chicago". Lagniappe. Archived from the original on February 4, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
- Beahm, Anna (May 23, 2019). "Via Airlines leaving all Alabama airports effective immediately". AL.com. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
External links
- Aviation photos: Mobile - Downtown (Brookley Field / CGAS) from Airliners.net
- Aerial image as of 4 March 2002 from USGS The National Map
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective July 16, 2020
- FAA Terminal Procedures for BFM, effective July 16, 2020
- AC-U-KWIK information for KBFM
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KBFM
- ASN accident history for BFM
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KBFM
- FAA current BFM delay information