Fort Wayne International Airport (IATA: FWA, ICAO: KFWA, FAA LID: FWA) is a public airport located seven miles (11 km) southwest of the central business district of Fort Wayne, in Allen County, Indiana, United States. This airport is publicly owned by Fort Wayne/Allen County Airport Authority.1 The airport contains one terminal, the Lt. Paul Baer Terminal. There is passenger service to the seven larger airline hubs of Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas – Fort Worth, Cleveland, Detroit and Minneapolis – Saint Paul, annually serving approximately 650,000 passengers.2 The airport has a 600,000-square-foot (56,000 m2) air cargo center located on the southwest side. The center was occupied by Kitty Hawk Aircargo, which operated a hub and spoke operation out of Fort Wayne until October 30, 2007, shortly after the carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The airport is currently trying to find alternate uses for the property. Fort Wayne International is also home to a maintenance base for Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines regional partner Pinnacle Airlines. Fort Wayne International is also home to the 122d Fighter Wing (the "Blacksnakes") of the Indiana Air National Guard, which flies the F-16 fighter from a secure area of the airport away from the publicly accessible facilities.3 As of 2006, runway 5/23's usable dimensions are 11,981 feet (3,652 m) long and 150 feet (46 m) wide while the grooved-surface dimensions are 12,000 feet (3,700 m) long and 150 feet (46 m) wide, large enough to accommodate the Space Shuttle, 747s, and military tankers.4
Airlines and destinationsFort Wayne International Airport has 8 common-use gates. Gates 1-4 are ground-level and are boarded via airstairs, whereas Gates 5-8 board via jetways. However, most of the time, gates are typically used in this fashion by the airlines:
HistoryThe airport was originally constructed as a military base during World War II. It opened in 1941 as Baer Field at a cost of $10 million. After the war, the City of Fort Wayne bought the airport from the federal government for $1, renaming it Fort Wayne Municipal Airport in 1946. The airport kept this name until 1991, when it was renamed Fort Wayne International Airport. Despite the new name, the airport lacks any international flights and serves primarily as a regional airport at this time. In late 2003, Charles McKinley shipped himself via Kitty Hawk Air Cargo from Newark International Airport to Buffalo, New York, then to Fort Wayne, eventually flying to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, undetected through security.56 On August 18, 2004, Fort Wayne International Airport was in the national spotlight after a mysterious "liquid substance" discovered leaking from luggage, forced authorities to shut down the airport, after six people fell ill. Fearing that the incident may have been an act of terrorism, the FBI was involved in the investigation. Later in the day, Haz-mat ruled that there was "no biological or chemical threat" and the airport was reopened that afternoon. All who were ill recovered and it was later revealed that the substance was an agent for producing perfume.7 See alsoExternal links
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