Valley International Airport (VIA) (IATA: HRL, ICAO: KHRL, FAA LID: HRL) is owned by the City of Harlingen, in Cameron County, Texas. Valley International Airport is operated by a nine-member airport board appointed by the mayor. HRL is centrally located in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) making it a logical choice for travel to the area. Valley International is often referred to as the "Gateway to South Padre Island" with travel amenities that provide door to door transportation to South Padre Island. With over 2,400 acres HRL is the largest airport in the RGV with room and resources to meet future airline expansion needs. HRL also provides the longest runways in the area with modern aircraft approach systems that minimize chances of travel delays during inclement weather.
Current airlines providing air service to HRL include Southwest Airlines, United Airlines (via United Express), Delta Air Lines (seasonally via Delta Connection) and Sun Country Airlines (seasonal service). These air carriers provide nonstop service to Austin (AUS), Houston (IAH and HOU) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (seasonal service to MSP). HRL is also a large air cargo port currently ranked in the top 80 airports in the United States. FedEx and DHL operations are serviced with daily wide-body aircraft providing both domestic and international freight forwarding services.
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011-2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport. Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 417,557 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 367,269 in 2009 and 373,438 in 2010.
Video Valley International Airport
History
After the airport's closure by the military in 1962 following a 1961 budget proposal by President John F. Kennedy to close 70 air bases in the U.S., the airfield was turned over to the City of Harlingen and then converted to civil use as Valley International Airport after Hurricane Beulah flooded the original Harlingen civil airport (at 26.206°N 97.754°W / 26.206; -97.754) in 1967.
Historical airline service
Trans-Texas Airways (TTa) and its successor Texas International Airlines served the airport for many years. In 1968, Trans-Texas was serving Harlingen with Douglas DC-9-10 twin jets with nonstop flights to Corpus Christi and Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) as well as direct jet service to Dallas Love Field (DAL), Little Rock, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee. Trans-Texas was also operating Convair 600 turboprops into the airport at this time with nonstop flights to Monterrey, Mexico and Tampico, Mexico with direct one stop service to Veracruz, Mexico in addition to Convair 600 flights to Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, Laredo, San Antonio and other destinations in Texas. By 1978, Texas International was operating all flights from the airport with DC-9 jets with nonstop service to Austin and Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and was also flying daily direct service from Harlingen to Los Angeles (LAX) via intermediate stops at Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Albuquerque. Texas International subsequently merged with Continental Airlines which eventually resumed service to Harlingen after Texas International had ceased all flights into the airport. Continental then merged with United Airlines which continues to serve the airport via United Express with Canadair CRJ-700 regional jets operated by SkyWest Airlines and Embraer ERJ 145 regional jets flown by ExpressJet Airlines.
Several major airlines operated mainline jet service into the airport in the past included American Airlines with Boeing 727-100s and Boeing 727-200s, Braniff International Airways with Boeing 727-200s and Continental Airlines with Boeing 727-100s, Douglas DC-9-10s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s. In 1982, Braniff was operating nonstop 727 service to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) three times a day with continuing direct one stop service Chicago, Denver and Omaha In 1987, Continental was operating four DC-9 nonstops a day to Houston (IAH) with continuing direct one stop service to Baton Rouge, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Omaha. In 1989, American was operating five daily Boeing 727-200 departures from Harlingen with four nonstop flights to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and one nonstop flight to Houston (IAH) while at the same time Continental was operating three daily nonstops to Houston (IAH) including one flight with a Boeing 727-100 and two flights with Douglas DC-9-10 aircraft . By 1999, American Eagle operating ATR-72 turboprops nonstop to DFW had replaced American mainline jet service while Continental Express flying ATR-42 turboprops nonstop to IAH had replaced Continental mainline jet flights.
Southwest Airlines began serving Harlingen as an intrastate airline in 1975 with Boeing 737-200 jets and currently flies later model 737s into airport. Harlingen was the fourth new destination served by Southwest following its initiation of service from Dallas, Houston and San Antonio as a new start up air carrier in 1971. By 1979, the airline was serving Harlingen with Boeing 727-200 jetliners as well as with Boeing 737 jets. In 1986, Southwest was operating ten 737 departures every weekday from the airport with seven nonstop flights to Houston Hobby Airport (HOU), two nonstop flights to San Antonio (SAT) and one nonstop flight to Austin (AUS) and was also operating eight direct one stop flights a day to Dallas Love Field (DAL) as well as direct, no change of plane service to Phoenix (PHX) on a daily basis.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Harlingen once again had international service to Mexico with flights operated by Mexicana de Aviacion nonstop to both Mexico City and Monterrey flown with Boeing 727-100 jets.
Sun Country Airlines previously operated McDonnell Douglas DC-10 wide body jetliners as well as Boeing 727-200 jets into the airport at one point on a seasonal basis from Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) during the winter months and continues to serve Harlingen seasonally with Boeing 737-800 jets.
Delta Airlines started seasonal service to Harligen in 2013 from its Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) hub using Airbus A320's and continues to fly the seasonal route using CRJ-900's.
Maps Valley International Airport
Facilities
Valley International Airport covers 2,428 acres (983 ha) at an elevation of 36 feet (11 m). It has three asphalt runways: 17R/35L is 8,301 by 150 feet (2,530 x 46 m); 13/31 is 7,257 by 150 feet (2,212 x 46 m); 17L/35R is 5,949 by 150 feet (1,813 x 46 m).
In 2011 the airport had 43,731 aircraft operations, averaging 119 per day: 36% general aviation, 34% military, 22% airline, and 8% air taxi. 32 aircraft were then based at the airport: 88% single-engine, 9% multi-engine, and 3% jet.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
- FedEx - serves Harlingen with wide body Airbus A300 freighters
Top destinations
Airport design
- The airport has seven gates. Delta operates at Gate 2, Sun Country at Gate 4, Southwest at Gates 5 and 6, and United at Gate 7.
Services
- Valley International Airport is the home of Cameron County's first Starbucks (operated by HMSHost), located in the main terminal prior to the security check-point.
- The airport was among the first in the area to offer free Wi-Fi service.
- Quizno's is located on the concourse, along with The Paradies Shops, PSAir Pub, and Tropics Cafe.
- A parking lot shuttle and a shuttle to South Padre Island are available.
Incidents
On April 2, 2012, United Express flight 4128 made an emergency landing at Corpus Christi due to unknown reasons when it suffered damage to its front landing gear and also experienced a flat tire. The flight originated in Harlingen and was heading to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. There were 37 passengers on board and there were no injuries. The aircraft was an Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet operated by ExpressJet on a code sharing flight on behalf of United Airlines.
Area airports
- Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport (BRO) - Brownsville, Texas (20 miles)
- McAllen-Miller International Airport (MFE) - McAllen, Texas (40 miles)
References
External links
- Valley International Airport, official site
- Valley International (HRL) at Texas DOT airport directory
- Aerial image as of January 1995 from USGS The National Map
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective May 24, 2018
- FAA Terminal Procedures for HRL, effective May 24, 2018
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KHRL
- ASN accident history for HRL
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KHRL
- FAA current HRL delay information
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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