| Addison Airport | |
| Iata: | ADS |
| Icao: | KADS |
| Faa: | ADS |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | City of Addison |
| City-Served: | Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex |
| Location: | Addison, Texas, U.S. |
| Elevation-F: | 645 |
| Elevation-M: | 197 |
| Coordinates: | 32.9686°N -96.8364°W |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Texas#USA |
| Pushpin Relief: | yes |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location |
| Pushpin Label: | ADS |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| R1-Number: | 16/34 |
| R1-Length-F: | 7,203 |
| R1-Length-M: | 2,195 |
| R1-Surface: | Concrete |
| Stat-Year: | 2023 |
| Stat1-Header: | Aircraft operations (year ending 9/30/2023) |
| Stat1-Data: | 119,065 |
| Stat2-Header: | Based aircraft |
| Stat2-Data: | 576 |
| Footnotes: | Source: Federal Aviation Administration effective January 25, 2024[1] |
Addison Airport is a public airport in Addison, in Dallas County, Texas, United States, 9miles north of downtown Dallas.[2] It opened in 1954 and was purchased by the town of Addison in 1976.[3]
The Addison Airport Toll Tunnel, completed in 1999, allows east–west automobile traffic to cross the airport under the runway.
The town of Addison originally formed in 1904 as a small unincorporated community surrounding a St. Louis Southwestern Railway depot located at the northern end of a branch line to Dallas. On June 15, 1953, residents voted to incorporate because they did not want the nearby cities of Dallas, Carrollton, or Farmers Branch to annex the community. By the mid 1950s, the newly incorporated city had about five hundred residents, but few public improvements and no local water system.[4]
In 1955, Guy Dennis, the son-in-law of founding settler Sidney Smith Noell, sold his large farm north of the depot to W.T. Overton, a 28-year-old businessman from Dallas, who announced in January 1956 that he would build Addison Airport on the site. Overton said that it would be the first airfield in the area designed for business jets, then a novel innovation. Overton and his partners chose the airport site because Civil Aeronautics Administration statistics indicated that more aircraft owners lived in Texas than in any state other than California, and the largest cluster of those owners resided in Dallas County; additionally, most upscale residential development likely to attract aircraft owners was being built in the northern part of the county.
The partners incorporated Addison Airport, Inc. (AAI) on August 30, 1956, and laid out an industrial park in the triangular area formed by the main railway line, Dooley Road, and the main runway. After obtaining final approval from the city, the airport had its formal groundbreaking ceremony on March 16, 1957. The airfield included a terminal building, and its primary paved runway, 15/33, was long–deliberately longer than the longest runway at the newly constructed Redbird Airport in South Dallas.
AAI needed a professional manager for the airport. Overton's partner James DeLoache was impressed by Henry Stuart, who managed nearby Park Cities Airport, and quickly persuaded Stuart to leave that airport and manage Addison Airport instead. AAI realized that a private well would not support their development plans, so they petitioned the city to drill a municipal well and build its first public water system. The project was approved by voters in April 1957 and construction began in August. The well was later supplemented by a large water main extended from Dallas.
The airport's grand opening was held on October 18, 1957.
Addison Airport covers ; its one runway, 16/34, is 7203feetx100feetft (xft) concrete. In the year ending September 30, 2023, it had 119,065 aircraft operations, averaging 326 per day: 68% general aviation, 32% air taxi, <1% airline and <1% military. 576 aircraft were then based at the airport: 326 single-engine, 86 multi-engine, 157 jet and 7 helicopter. In 2022, its runway designation was changed from 15/33 to 16/34.[5]
There are currently three fixed-base operators: Atlantic Aviation, Landmark Aviation, and Million Air.
Charter services are available from a variety of companies, with Business Jet Solutions and Bombardier FlexJet having large operations.
The airport is the headquarters of Ameristar Jet Charter, GTA Air, and Martinaire, and also has scheduled freight flights from AirNet Express, Flight Express, and Flight Development.
It is also a training hub, with primary to advanced flight instruction available from Thrust Flight School, American Flyers, ATP Flight School, Stature Aviation, CTL Aero, and PlaneSmart!.
| Addison Airport circuit[17] | |
| Location: | Dallas, TX, US |
| Time: | UTC-6 CST (UTC-5 CST) |
| Opened: | 1989 |
| Closed: | 1991 |
| Events: | Trans-Am Series (1989-1991) SCCA Corvette Challenge (1989) SCCA Formula Super Vee (1989-1991) SCCA RaceTruck Challenge (1989-1991) |
| Layout1: | Circuit (1989–1991) |
| Length Km: | 2.53 |
| Length Mi: | 1.57 |
| Record Time: | 1:12.087[18] |
| Record Class: | Trans-Am |
In 1989, 1990, and 1991, Addison Airport hosted the Dallas Grand Prix, consisting of Trans-Am Series, SCCA Formula Super Vee, SCCA Corvette Challenge, and SCCA RaceTruck Challenge races.[19] [20] [21] The Dallas Grand Prix previously took place on a street circuit in Fair Park, but complaints from nearby homeowners prompted organizers to seek a less noise-sensitive venue, and they decided on Addison Airport because the surrounding area was largely industrial in nature. The 1989 event was held on May 12–14 on a temporary circuit that traversed public streets, taxiways, and the south end of the runway. The races benefited Addison hotels and restaurants, but setup and teardown of the circuit and grandstands disrupted airfield operations for weeks, prompting airport businesses and the airport management company to lodge complaints with the town and the FAA in 1990. After the 1991 event, the FAA, the town, the race organizers, and airport managers and tenants agreed that 1992 would be the last year the event would be held at the airport. The agreement became moot when the race organizers, who had lost money on the previous events, cancelled the 1992 event citing financial reasons.