Punta Gorda Airport (Florida)

Punta Gorda Airport (Formerly Charlotte County Airport)
IATA: PGD ICAO: KPGD FAA LID: PGD
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Charlotte County Airport Authority
Serves	Punta Gorda, Florida
Focus city for	Allegiant Air
Elevation AMSL	26 ft / 8 m
Coordinates	26°55′08″N 081°59′27″W / 26.91889°N 81.99083°W / 26.91889; -81.99083Coordinates: 26°55′08″N 081°59′27″W / 26.91889°N 81.99083°W / 26.91889; -81.99083
Website	www.FlyPGD.com
Maps
FAA airport diagram
PGD Show map of Florida PGD Show map of the US Location of Airport in Florida
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 4/22 7,193 2,192 Asphalt 15/33 5,688 1,734 Asphalt 9/27 2,636 803 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Aircraft Operations 79,772 Based Aircraft 342 Passengers 418,017
Sources: FAA,BTS, Airport Website

Punta Gorda Airport (IATA: PGD, ICAO: KPGD, FAA LID: PGD) is a public airport three miles southeast of Punta Gorda, in Charlotte County, Florida. It is owned by the Charlotte County Airport Authority and was formerly called Charlotte County Airport. The airport has mainly been used by single engine and small jet aircraft, but has recently seen more scheduled airline service. The airport is home to the Florida International Air Show, an annual event which has featured various military demonstration teams, such as the United States Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the "Blue Angels"; the "U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds"; and the United States Army's "Sky Soldiers" (173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team) Cobra helicopter team.

In 1941, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built an airfield on the current airport property as a combat pilot training base for the U.S. Army Air Forces' (USAAF) Third Air Force, naming the facility Punta Gorda Army Airfield. By 1944, the base reached its peak in housing 1,000 personnel, including two squadrons of student pilots.

The base initially had forty Curtis P-40 Warhawks assigned, later transitioning to the North American P-51 Mustang. Pursuit (i.e., "fighter") aircraft training in the P-40 and P-51 represented advanced phase training for Army Air Forces fighter pilots prior to their being deployed with USAAF operational units in Europe and the Pacific. Punta Gorda Army Airfield was a subordinate command of 3rd Air Force, 3rd Fighter Command at Drew Field (now Tampa International Airport), and also had C-45 Expeditor and C-47 Skytrain transports assigned for support.