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Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport

Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport is an airport located in Sarasota, Florida and just south of Bradenton, Florida. The airport is shared by both Manatee County (airfield) and Sarasota County (terminal). It is a main hub for Day Jet. Most airlines refer to the airport on destination maps and flight status displays as just "Sarasota", as that is the larger and more widely known city. The airport is usually referred to locally as "SRQ" (the airport code). A large portion of the airport's commercial airline service occurs during the winter and spring months, as the area is a popular tourist destination and seasonal home for snowbirds during the winter and spring months.

Recent history

Air Force One was at the airport on September 11, 2001. George W. Bush was at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota when Andrew Card first informed him of the September 11, 2001 attacks at 9:05 AM. Bush returned to the airport. It taxied at 9:54 AM and lifted off at 9:55 AM flying first to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Like many small American airports, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport experienced financial woes in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Additionally, two airlines servicing SRQ, Canada 3000 and Canadian Airlines, ceased operations, the first bankrupt and the second absorbed into Air Canada.

However, in 2003, AirTran Airways began service as the result of a nationwide marketing poll sponsored by the airline. The poll's results indicated that Sarasota-Bradenton was one of several smaller airports that AirTran's customers would prefer the airline service. Consequently, AirTran added service to Atlanta-Hartsfield/Jackson, and Baltimore-Washington International, and as of 2005 the airline serves five U.S. destinations with non-stop flights from SRQ.

Financial concerns were faced again in September 2005, when Delta Air Lines, the carrier with the largest market share out of SRQ , filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While initially there was great concern regarding Delta's bankruptcy filing's effect on the financial stability of the airport, especially if Delta were to have reduced local operations, in fact Delta has since announced new service out of SRQ, which included expanded service to Atlanta, and new service to New York's LaGuardia Airport, and Boston's Logan International Airport. All of that service was cut back or discontinued, but new winter/spring seasonal service to Boston and LaGuardia was recently announced by Delta.

Facilities and aircraft

Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport covers an area of 1,102 acres (446 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 14/32 measuring 9,500 x 150 ft (2,896 x 46 m) and 4/22 measuring 5,009 x 150 ft (1,527 x 46 m).

For the 12-month period ending October 31, 2006, the airport had 163,870 aircraft operations, an average of 448 per day: 82% general aviation, 9% scheduled commercial, 7% air taxi, 2% military. At that time there were 266 aircraft based at this airport: 71% single-engine, 17% multi-engine, 9% jet and 3% helicopter.