FAA diagram of South Bend Regional Airport (SBN)
South Bend Regional Airport (IATA: SBN, ICAO: KSBN, FAA LID: SBN) is a public airport located three miles (5 km) northwest of the central business district of South Bend, a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. This airport is publicly owned by St. Joseph County Airport Authority.[1] It is the state's second busiest airport in terms of commercial traffic after Indianapolis International Airport.
The airport has been known in the past as Bendix Field, St. Joseph County Airport and Michiana Regional Transportation Center. The airport was renamed South Bend Regional Airport to help identify the airport's location since many travelers were unaware of the meaning or location of Michiana (taken from MICHigan and IndIANA).
Administration
Known by the FAA as a small-hub airport (Bureau of Transportation Statistics), South Bend Regional Airport is one of only a few multi-modal transportation facilities in America that provides air, interstate bus and interstate rail service from one multi-modal terminal facility. The St. Joseph County Airport Authority claims the airport was the first truly multi-modal airport in the country.
The St. Joseph County Airport Authority is the administrative body over the airport and also provides police, fire and medical protection to the airport and its occupants. The members of the airport safety department are cross-trained as State-certified law enforcement officers, State-certified paramedics/EMTs and State-certified firefighters. The airport has been directed by John C. Schalliol for more than 25 years.
Facilities
Runway 18/36 re-opened in 3rd quarter 2007 at a new length of 7,100 feet. Also, runway connector N3 was reopened after over a decade of being closed.
The terminal has two concourses, A and C. Concourse A has 6 gates, 3 of which have ground-level boarding bridges. Concourse C has 5 gates, one of which as a ground-level boarding bridge (currently being used by Delta Connection and Allegiant Air). All boarding bridges are full-size and capable of accommodating most commercial aircraft today. Gate A-6 had a ground-level boarding bridge in the 1990s, but it has since been removed.
The airport's concourses have what are known as hold rooms. These vary slightly from some airports that have seating areas specific to a gate. Hold Room A serves all gate areas in Concourse A, and Hold Room C serves all gate areas in Concourse C.
South Bend Regional Airport has an in-terminal viewing area with live air traffic control transmissions from South Bend Air Traffic Control Tower/TRACON. The viewing area is located on the second level of the terminal's atrium.
In a press release issued in March 2008 the St. Joseph County Airport Authority announced plans for a 45,000 square foot, 12-million dollar expansion of Concourse A that will include 5 new jet bridges (bringing to total number of gates post-expansion to 9), a concession area/lounge, children’s play area as well as a business center.[citation needed] The current Concourse C will be demolished and all passenger screening will be consolidated into one location at the existing Concourse A. Construction on the expansion is slated to begin in 2009 with completion in late 2010. When the expansion is complete each gate will have a jetway except A1 as well have its own dedicated seating area.
Airport operations
Within the state of Indiana, the airport is second only to Indianapolis by means of passenger movements and air carrier service.[2] In fact, according to the airport authority, South Bend is ranked in the top 25 percent of small-to-medium sized airports in terms of air service.[citation needed] The airport falls to third place behind Indianapolis and Fort Wayne in cargo operations, and fifth in the state for overall take-offs and landings. Due to South Bend's proximity to Chicago, South Bend air traffic controllers work closely with Chicago Center and Chicago Approach Control to sequence aircraft into and out of Chicago's terminal airspace. These efforts make South Bend's Tower/TRACON the second busiest terminal air traffic facility in the state.
Air service
Allegiant Air announced in March 2008 interest in providing direct international service between South Bend and Cancun, Mexico.[citation needed] The airport authority told the public in a press release that now is the time to prepare for the service, not later, due to the amount of time it will take to get the customs facility operational, which could be a few years.[citation needed]
This is not the first time an airline has expressed interest in bringing international flights to South Bend. In the early 2000s Air Canada's Air Georgian announced plans for international (trans-border) service between South Bend and Toronto.[citation needed] That service never took off due to South Bend not being able to obtain a customs facility.
Airlines and destinations
[] Concourse A
Airlines & Destinations served from
South Bend Regional Airport
(As of 2008)
Concourse C
Incidents
- On the evening of July 18, 2007, lighting struck the airfield, causing the runway lights to turn off. Planes en route to South Bend were diverted elsewhere, and all flights planned to take off to/from South Bend were canceled. Planes were still not able to take off in the morning of July 19 because the lights had not been fixed and it was still dark out. As a result, many flights were canceled, and passengers were put on different flights. Later that day, the lights were fixed, and flights resumed their normal schedules.
See also
References
- ^ a b FAA Airport Master Record for SBN (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2008-09-25.
- ^ Bureau of Transportation Statistics
External links
| |
