BOX 2-B
Classification of Airports in the
United
States
There
were nearly 20,000 airports1 in the
United States
, with about 5,300 of
these open to the public and known as public-use airports, as of January 2004.
The Federal Aviation Administration includes about 3,400 existing public-use
airports in its National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). The NPIAS
includes both commercial and general aviation airports that are eligible to
receive grants under the Airport Improvement Program. Commercial service
airports are defined as public airports receiving scheduled passenger service
with at least 2,500 enplaned passengers per year. These airports handle the
vast majority of enplanements in the
United States
. In 2004, there were 513
commercial service airports.
Source
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation
Administration, National Planning Division, personal communication, Feb. 22, 2005.
1 Includes civil and joint-use civil-military
airports, heliports, STOL (short take off and landing) ports, and seaplane
bases in the
United States
and its territories.
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