Arnold Palmer Regional Airport


Arnold Palmer Regional Airport is in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, two miles southwest of Latrobe and about southeast of Pittsburgh. It was formerly "Westmoreland County Airport"; it was renamed in September 1999 for Arnold Palmer as part of his 70th birthday celebration. Palmer learned to fly at the airport and the dedication ceremony included Governor Tom Ridge and a flyover of three A-10s of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
The Federal Aviation Administration National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a non-hub primary commercial service facility.
Passenger traffic at the airport has exploded since Spirit Airlines began serving the airport in 2011, jumping from roughly 10,000 passengers in 2010 to 310,000 passengers in 2019, a 300% increase. Spirit Airlines is the only commercial passenger carrier and currently flies five nonstop routes to cities in Florida from the airport.

History

The airport was served by Northwest Airlink, as a reliever for Pittsburgh International Airport on the other side of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The airport had regional service by US Airways to Pittsburgh International Airport, until the company's bankruptcy. Northwest/Delta ended its service to Detroit on July 31, 2009.
Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 18,946 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 15,482 in 2009 and 6,978 in 2010.
In February 2011 Spirit Airlines launched seasonal service to Fort Lauderdale and Myrtle Beach; in January 2012 Spirit announced they would start service to Orlando on May 17. The airline currently serves the airport year-round. Spirit now serves 5 cities from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport and has increased passenger traffic from 6,978 in 2010 to 355,910 in 2015. Southern Airways Express has expressed interest in a Latrobe-to-Pittsburgh route but no start date has been announced.
In January 2020, airport officials announced a $13 million project using federal grant money to widen the main runway to accommodate any size plane.

Facilities

The airport covers 945 acres at an elevation of 1,199 feet. It has one active asphalt runway: 6/24 is 8,222 by 100 feet. Runway 3/21 is closed indefinitely; it was 3,609 by 75 feet. Runway 6/24 was formerly 5/23.
In 2016 the airport had 28,816 aircraft operations, average 79 per day: 72% general aviation, 16% air taxi, 7% airline, and 5% military. In May 2017, 105 aircraft were based at the airport: 58 single-engine, 9 multi-engine, 33 jet, and 5 helicopter.
The airport has a terminal building with one baggage claim. Parking is free. Fixed-base operators on the field include L.J. Aviation and Vee Neal Aviation.

Airlines and destinations

Destinations map

Statistics