King County International Airport
King County International Airport, also known as Boeing Field or BFI, is a public airport owned and operated by King County, Washington. It is primarily used for general aviation and cargo, although there are scheduled flights by Kenmore Air, a commuter airline. It is classified as a primary commercial service airport. The airport averages 180,000 aircraft operations annually and has 380 based aircraft (229 single-engine, 40 multi-engine, 88 jet, 26 helicopters, and one glider). On average, 79% of movements are general aviation, 15% air taxi, 6% airline, and less than 1% military. The Boeing Company has facilities at the airport, including a paint hangar and extensive test facilities. The airport covers 634 acres and has two runways: 14R/32L, which is 10,007 by 200 feet (asphalt), and 14L/32R, which is 3,709 by 100 feet (asphalt).
Airport history
Boeing Field, constructed in 1928, was the main passenger airport for the Seattle area up until the completion of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) in the late 40s. The OAG for August 1946 lists 24 United Airlines weekday departures, ten weekly Northwest flights, and several weekly Pan Am flights to Juneau. By 1953, all three airlines had moved to SEA. West Coast Airlines began servicing the airport in 1946, and Hughes Airwest followed suit. The last scheduled passenger jets from BFI were in 1971. In June 2005, Southwest submitted a proposal to relocate to BFI from SEA (Alaska Airlines had made a similar proposal), but both were rejected.
Airport location
The airport is five miles south of downtown Seattle.
Airport facts
- BFI is used by Air Force One when the President of the United States visits the Seattle area.
- Final preparations of the Boeing 737 after the final test flight are made at BFI.
- On the southwest corner of the field is the Museum of Flight, which features the first Boeing 747, the third Boeing 787, and an ex-British Airways Concorde, a supersonic airliner that landed at BFI on its first visit to Seattle on November 15th, 1984.
- The runway numbers were updated in August 2017 due to shifting magnetic headings.
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