Willow Run Airport (YIP) | |||||||||||||||||||
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2006 USGS photo
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Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
Operator | Wayne County Airport Authority | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Van Buren Charter Township and Ypsilanti Township | ||||||||||||||||||
Hub for | |||||||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 716 ft / 218 m | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°14′16.539″N 83°31′49.47″W / 42.23792750°N 83.5304083°WCoordinates: 42°14′16.539″N 83°31′49.47″W / 42.23792750°N 83.5304083°W | ||||||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||||||
Location of airport in Michigan/United States | |||||||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Willow Run Airport (IATA: YIP, ICAO: KYIP, FAA LID: YIP) is in Van Buren Charter Township and in Ypsilanti Township, near Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States, and serves freight, corporate, and general aviation. No major airlines schedule flights to Willow Run due to its proximity to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a national reliever airport facility.
Opened in 1942, "Willow Run" was synonymous with the American industrial effort that contributed so much to Allied victory in World War II. Operated by the Ford Motor Company, the Willow Run manufacturing plant produced a total of 8,685 B-24 Liberator heavy bombers, completed and in kit form, before closure in April 1945; Willow Run produced more Liberators than either plant owned by the plane's designer, Consolidated Aircraft.
Today the Yankee Air Museum, in one of the airport hangars, has a large collection of vintage aircraft.
Willow Run Airport has three runways, a continuously staffed FAA control tower, and US Customs operations. It is one of two facilities operated by the Wayne County Airport Authority, the other being Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, which replaced Willow Run as the major commercial airport for the region starting in 1958. Worldwide cargo airlines Kalitta Air and National Airlines are based at Willow Run Airport.