Bessemer Airport

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Bessemer Municipal Airport (also known as Mitchell Field, FAA indentifier EKY) is a public airport located off Morgan Road about 1 mile south of I-459 and 3 miles southeast of downtown Bessemer. The airport covers 380 acres and has a single asphalt-paved runway measuring 6,007 feet long by 100 feet wide.

Bessemer Aviation managed the airport through the 1990s. Its president, Tommy Morrow also used it as the base for Bancserv, a company which flew passengers and bank instruments between Bessemer and Mobile. The FAA contracted with Nu-Waay Enterprises of Tuskegee to install an Instrument Landing System at the airport in 2000.

Since June 2003 the airport has been operated by Premiere Aviation Group under contract to the Bessemer Airport Authority. The company, which is owned by Daryl Harms, MASADA, and manages the airport's facilities and provides fueling, maintenance, storage and charter services. The company flies two 6-seat craft in its charter business. It also operates the Bessemer Air Center flight school and provides military aircraft training on five former Czechoslovakian Air Force jets.

A major expansion of the airport's facilities was completed in 2004. The runway was extended from 5,700 feet to meet insurance requirements for most corporate aircraft. The runway lights were upgraded from medium- to high-intensity and the runway, ramps, and parking areas were re-painted with new markings and numbering. Further extensions of the runway are planned.

For the 12-month period ending January 24, 2007, the airport had 102,600 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 281 per day. At that time there were 167 aircraft based at this airport: 90% single-engine, 7% multi-engine and 2% jet. In the Federal Aviation Administration's "National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems" the Bessemer Airport is classified as a "reliever airport" for Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.

The Bessemer Airport has hosted many of the Birmingham Aero Club's Wings and Wheels Air Shows.

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