Inyokern Airport

Inyokern Airport
IATA: IYK ICAO: KIYK FAA LID: IYK
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Indian Wells Valley Airport District
Serves	Inyokern, California
Elevation AMSL	2,457 ft / 749 m
Coordinates	35°39′31″N 117°49′46″W / 35.65861°N 117.82944°W / 35.65861; -117.82944Coordinates: 35°39′31″N 117°49′46″W / 35.65861°N 117.82944°W / 35.65861; -117.82944
Website	InyokernAirport.com
Map
IYK Location of airport in California
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 15/33 7,100 2,164 Asphalt 2/20 6,275 1,913 Asphalt 10/28 4,150 1,265 Asphalt
Statistics (2010)
Aircraft operations 28,573 Based aircraft 117
Sources: airport web site and FAA

Inyokern Airport (IATA: IYK, ICAO: KIYK, FAA LID: IYK) is a public use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) northwest of the central business district of Inyokern, in Kern County, California, United States. It is owned by the Indian Wells Valley Airport District and serves the Indian Wells Valley area. The airport is mostly used for general aviation and was previously served by a number of commuter and regional airlines over the years with passenger flights to Los Angeles (LAX).

As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 11,149 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 11,081 enplanements in 2009, and 11,109 in 2010. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).

As early as the mid 1950s, Inyokern had scheduled passenger air service operated by Southwest Airways with Douglas DC-3 aircraft twice a day on weekdays nonstop to Burbank Airport (BUR, now Bob Hope Airport) in the Los Angeles area. According to the March 11, 1954 Southwest Airways system timetable, this DC-3 service was "operated under and subject to terms of U.S. Navy Contract". Southwest Airways then changed its name to Pacific Air Lines which in 1960 was operating nonstop DC-3 service to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). By 1964, Pacific was operating Martin 4-0-4 propliners from the airport to LAX. In 1968, Pacific Air Lines merged with Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines to form Air West which at this time was operating Fairchild F-27 turboprops from Inyokern to Los Angeles via a stop at Fox Field in Lancaster, CA. Air West then changed its name to Hughes Airwest which continued to serve the airport with F-27 propjet flights to LAX via Lancaster. In 1968, Cable Commuter Airlines was operating de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprops to LAX in competition with Air West.