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Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

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Coordinates: 29°59′36″N 090°15′29″W / 29.99333, -90.25806

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

IATA: MSY – ICAO: KMSY – FAA: MSY
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of New Orleans
Serves New Orleans, Louisiana
Location 900 Airline Drive
Kenner, Louisiana
(Physical Location Address)
Elevation AMSL 4 ft / 1 m
Website www.FlyMSY.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
10/28 10,104 3,080 Asphalt/Concrete
1/19 7,001 2,134 Concrete
6/24 3,570 1,088 Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations 117,237
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (IATA: MSY, ICAO: KMSY, FAA LID: MSY), formerly known as Moisant Field, is located at 900 Airline Drive, Kenner, Louisiana and is the primary commercial airport for the New Orleans metropolitan area and of southeast Louisiana. Sitting at an average of four feet above sea level, MSY is the second lowest lying international airport in the world, second only to Schiphol International Airport in The Netherlands, which sits at eleven feet below sea level. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, MSY served nearly 10 million passengers per year, nearly all of them non-connecting. MSY has one of the best safety records among U.S. airports. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was once a major hub for Latin American travel from the United States. That travel mostly goes through other cities which serve as gateway hubs for international legacy-airlines. It opened after World War II, replacing the older New Orleans Lakefront Airport (which kept the NEW and KNEW airport codes, and now serves general aviation) as the city's main airport. The airport was renamed in 2001 after Louis Armstrong, a famous jazz musician from New Orleans. The National Weather Service forecast office for the area moved to the suburb of Slidell, and now uses non-airport codes LIX and KLIX. MSY is owned by the City of New Orleans (Orleans Parish), but is primarily located in the city of Kenner, which is in neighboring Jefferson Parish. A small portion of the longest runway is located in unincorporated Saint Charles Parish.

Contents

History

The airport was originally named after daredevil aviator John Moisant, who died in an airplane crash on this land (which was devoted to farming at the time) in 1910. The abbreviation MSY was derived from Moisant Stock Yards, as the old airport kept NEW.[2] Plans for Moisant Field were begun in 1940, as New Orleans' older Shushan Airport – now New Orleans Lakefront Airport (NEW), still serving private and corporate aircraft – was in need of expansion or replacement. With World War II the land became a government air base. It was returned to civilian control after the war, and commercial service began at Moisant Field in May of 1946. On September 19, 1947, the airport was temporarily shut down as it was flooded under two feet of water by the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane. Historically, Eastern Air Lines served MSY, including Boeing 727 Whisperjet service to Dallas, Tampa, and Miami, as well as New York City and Atlanta. Utilizing such aircraft as 727s, Douglas DC-8s, and DC-10s, National Airlines provided service to such cities as Miami, Amsterdam, Tampa, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. The current terminal was built in 1959. MSY was also the hub for short-lived Pride Air, an airline which operated for three months in 1985 using Boeing 727 aircraft. On July 11, 2001, the airport was renamed after jazz musician Louis Armstrong in honor of the centennial of his birth.

Pan Am Flight 759

On July 9, 1982, Pan Am Flight 759, en route from Miami to Las Vegas, departed New Orleans International. The plane took off from the east-west runway traveling east but never gained an altitude higher than 150 feet. The plane traveled 4,610 feet (1405 m), hitting trees along the way, until crashing into a residential neighborhood. A total of 153 people were killed (all 145 on board and 8 on the ground). The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause was the aircraft's encounter with a microburst-induced wind shear during the liftoff. This atmospheric condition created a downdraft and decreased the headwind forcing the plane downward. Modern wind shear detection equipment, protecting flights from such conditions, is now in place at New Orleans International and most commercial airports.

Hurricane Katrina

The airport was closed to commercial air traffic on August 28, 2005, shortly before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, and it remained closed as floods affected the city. The Associated Press reported on August 31 that MSY would receive humanitarian flights, and that the airport "has no significant airfield damage and had no standing water in aircraft movement areas", although the airport did, as the article put it, "[sustain] damage to its roofs, hangars and fencing." [1] In early September, the airport was open only to military aircraft and humanitarian flights, and was serving as a staging center for evacuees.

February 2006 tornado

At about 2:30 EST in the morning on February 3, 2006, a tornado touched down on the grounds of MSY. The damage from the tornado was significant but primarily confined to Concourse C, where American, United, AirTran Airways, and international arrivals were based. Many temporary repairs dating from Hurricane Katrina failed, including one roof patch, forcing airlines based in the concourse to relocate operations to vacant gates. Jetways and other ground equipment also sustained damage. As of late 2006, all of this had been repaired.

Capacity Restoration

MSY reopened to commercial flights on September 13 2005; with four flights operated by Delta Air Lines to Atlanta, and Northwest Airlines to Memphis. Slowly, service from other carriers began to resume with limited service by Southwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, and American Airlines. Eventually, all carriers announced their return with limited service with the exception of Frontier Airlines, Midwest Airlines and international carriers Air Canada and TACA. Continental Airlines became the first airline to return to pre-Katrina flight frequency levels in early 2006, and in September 2006, they became the first major airline serving New Orleans to return to pre-Katrina seat capacity levels. As of November 2007, MSY's operations will be at 75% of their pre-Katrina status, measured by airlines' daily seat-count. Eighty-two percent of daily roundtrip flights will have been restored at that point, as well as 93% the number of domestic cities served (scheduled) nonstop and 0% of international cities served (scheduled) nonstop.

Incentives to Airlines

On November 21, 2006; the New Orleans Aviation Board approved an air service initiative to promote increased service to Armstrong International:

  • Airlines qualify for a $0.75 credit per seat toward terminal use charges for scheduled departing seats over 85% of pre-Katrina levels for a 12 month period.
  • Airlines qualify for a waiver of landing fees for service to an airport not served from New Orleans for 12 months.

Incentives to Passengers

In November of 2006, the airport opened a "cell phone lot" at the corner of Airline Drive and Hollandey Street across from the Airport Access Road; for people picking up arriving passengers to wait until an arriving passenger calls to say they are ready for pickup. Also, on December 6, 2006; Armstrong Int'l launched an $8 million maintenance campaign to clean and improve the environment, for guests arriving at and departing from the New Orleans region. Dubbed Music To Your Eyes, the campaign is designed to transform the airport into a more visitor-friendly facility: with improvements to lighting, cleanliness, seating, baggage claim maintenance, curbside congestion, and designated smoking areas.

Future Service

  • Airtran Airways will begin Saturday nonstops between Indianapolis and New Orleans beginning on February 16, 2008.
  • Delta Connection operated by Comair will begin Saturday nonstops between Boston and New Orleans beginning on February 2, 2008.
  • Virgin America lists New Orleans as one of 30 cities it expects to serve in the next 5 years. [3]

International Services

Armstrong International's Concourse C, located in the airport's West Terminal, contains a fully enclosed US Customs, Immigration, and FIS facility. Eleven of the concourse's 15 gates offer direct access to this area and are thus capable of accepting foreign arrivals from all over the world, on aircraft as large as Boeing 747-400s. As of 2005, the regularly scheduled international services from MSY were provided by Air Canada to Toronto and Grupo TACA to San Pedro Sula in Honduras. MSY has enjoyed nearly thirty nonstop international destinations in its history-- several of them intercontinental. In the 1980s, the city was served by British Airways's flight between London and Mexico City using Lockheed L1011 aircraft, which made an intermediate passenger and fuel stop at MSY. National Airlines also flew nonstop to Amsterdam from MSY using DC10 aircraft. Twice weekly seasonal New Orleans to Montego Bay nonstops via the Jamaica Shuttle (typically operated by chartered Boeing 727-200's or 737-300's) operated during most of the 1990's and into the 2000's. Laker Airways operated twice weekly seasonal B727-200 flights between New Orleans and Grand Bahama Island in 2002. Vacation Express operated twice weekly seasonal charters between New Orleans and Cancun for several years using a mix of B727-200, B737-200, B737-300, and MD-80 equipment; This service was suspended after the company decided to concentrate on selling seats on scheduled flights instead of chartering aircraft. All international service into MSY was suspended while the FIS facility was closed post-Katrina. They reopened to an influx of chartered arrivals from London, Manchester, Bournemouth, and Nottingham, UK; all carrying tourists in for Mardi Gras and a departing cruise liner. In May of 2006, International Charter and Tours (via the auspices of Miami Air International) announced it would begin [scheduled-basis] charter nonstop flights between New Orleans and the Honduran cities of San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba to cater to the demand of Latin American traffic in the absence of TACA. This service is currently offered on a seasonal basis only.

Return of Scheduled International Service

TACA was expected to resume scheduled nonstop international service between Honduras and Armstrong International Airport on a twice-weekly basis beginning in December 2006, prior to the Holiday travel period. An official announcement on arrival/departure timings, Honduran city of origin, and fleet equipment type, once again faces indefinite suspension. Sources indicate that the flag carrier was unable to come to terms with other carriers, specifically AirTran Airways, as to the ground handling of their operations.

Terminals, airlines, and destinations

Louis Armstrong International has two terminals, East and West, connected by a central ticketing alley. Attached are four concourses, A, B, C, and D. Altogether, carriers at MSY currently offer 127 daily flights to 38 destinations as of December 2007.

Destinations served from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (as of February 2008)
Destinations served from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (as of February 2008)

Concourse A

Concourse A has 8 Gates: A1 - A8

Concourse B

Concourse B has 6 Gates: B2, B4, B5, B7, B8, B9

  • Southwest Airlines Gates B2, B4, B5, B7 - B9 (Baltimore/Washington, Birmingham (AL), Chicago-Midway, Dallas-Love, Fort Lauderdale, Houston-Hobby, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, Tampa)

Concourse C

The inside of MSY's International Arrivals Concourse C
The inside of MSY's International Arrivals Concourse C
The airside of New Orleans airport
The airside of New Orleans airport

Except for certain Canadian, Caribbean, and private-jet operations; all nonstop international arrivals are handled by Concourse C. Concourse C has 15 Gates: C1 - C12, C14 - C16

Concourse D

The newest concourse, D contains a Delta Air Lines Crown Room Club, the sole such airline club remaining in Armstrong. Concourse D has 7 Gates: D1 - D6, D8

References

  1. ^ FAA Airport Master Record for MSY (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-10-25
  2. ^ http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2005-03-29/blake.html
  3. ^ http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=123246

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Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport from Wíkipedia. ©2006 by Wíkipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. View a list of authors or edit this article.

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