Lake Charles Field

Chennault International Airport
USGS aerial photo as of 23 January 1994
IATA: CWF ICAO: KCWF FAA LID: CWF
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Chennault International Airport Authority
Serves	Lake Charles, Louisiana
Elevation AMSL	17 ft / 5 m
Coordinates	30°12′38″N 093°08′35″W / 30.21056°N 93.14306°W / 30.21056; -93.14306
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 15/33 10,701 3,262 Concrete
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations 52,976 Based aircraft 42
Sources: airport website and FAA

Chennault International Airport (IATA: CWF, ICAO: KCWF, FAA LID: CWF) is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) east of the central business district of Lake Charles, a city in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by the Chennault International Airport Authority.

It was previously Chennault Air Force Base and before that, Lake Charles Air Force Base and Lake Charles Army Air Field, and as such, was home to the now inactivated 44th Bombardment Wing in the 1950s and 1960s. The U.S. Air Force initially operated B-29 Superfortress bombers as well as KC-97 air-to-air refueling tankers and later flew B-47E Stratojet bombers from the airfield.

While a fully operational airport, it is an industrial center and provides no commercial air services. Those needs are served by Lake Charles Regional Airport. It is named for Major General Claire Chennault, USAAF, the aviator famous for commanding the Flying Tigers fighter group during World War II^[1].

Its mission statement reads as follows: "The Authority created pursuant hereto shall be established for the primary object and purpose of stimulating and encouraging the development of an industrial park for economic development through commerce, industry and research and for the utilization and development of natural and human resources of the area and provide job opportunities."^[2]