Tri-Cities Airport | |||||||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
Owner | Port of Pasco, Washington | ||||||||||||||||||
Serves | Tri-Cities metropolitan area; Burbank, Washington | ||||||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 410 ft / 125 m | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 46°15′52.84″N 119°07′8.5″W / 46.2646778°N 119.119028°W | ||||||||||||||||||
Website | flytricities.com | ||||||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Tri-Cities Airport (IATA: PSC, ICAO: KPSC, FAA LID: PSC) is a public airport 2 miles (3 km) northwest of Pasco, in Franklin County, Washington, USA. It is the fourth largest commercial airport in the state of Washington, and has two runways. PSC covers 2,235 acres (904 ha) of land.
The Tri-Cities Airport (then the Pasco Airport) was site of the first air mail contract flight between Elko, Nevada and Pasco, Washington made by Varney Airlines, (later United Airlines) in 1926. The airport was relocated to its present site and became known as the Franklin County Airport. The United States Navy built Naval Air Station Pasco during World War II. After the war, the Navy sold the field to the city of Pasco, but still retains training privileges. Several Navy aircraft, especially the P-3 Orion, use the field for landing and take-off training. The Port of Pasco then took ownership in 1963 and opened doors to a new Terminal Building in 1966.
In 1955 the old administration building became the home of the newly established Columbia Basin College, which it remained until the current facility near Interstate 182 was built in 1966. The building later was leased to the Pasco School District #1, for use as Pasco Alternative High School (now New Horizons High School) until it was destroyed by fire in the mid-1980s. The new school is now sited near Columbia Basin College.
Pasco has had jet flights on several airlines, including Air West and Hughes Airwest with Douglas DC-9s, Cascade Airways with BAC One-Elevens, Delta Airlines with Boeing 727-200s and 737-300s, Alaska Airlines with Boeing 727s,Horizon Air with Fokker F-28s and West Coast Airlines with DC-9s. Currently, scheduled passenger flights are mostly regional jet and turboprop although Allegiant Air operates MD80s and Delta operates Airbus A319s/320s as well as Boeing 717s. Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, currently uses Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft to fly to the airport.