Athens–Ben Epps Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Athens, a city in Clarke County, Georgia, United States. The airport is named after Ben T. Epps, the first aviator in the state of Georgia, who opened the airport in 1917. It is mostly used for general aviation, though it has seen airline service throughout its history.

History

Until May 23, 2008, Athens–Ben Epps Airport was served by twice-daily flights to Charlotte on Air Midwest operating as US Airways Express. SeaPort Airlines was the last airline providing scheduled service to the airport, with daily flights to Nashville. On September 28, 2012, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded SeaPort Airlines with daily flights to Nashville replacing GeorgiaSkies. As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 3,449 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 5,335 enplanements in 2009, and 5,751 in 2010. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a non-primary commercial service airport (between 2,500 and 10,000 enplanements per year). In September 2015, a 600-foot, $17 million runway extension project was completed at the airport to accept larger planes, primarily for use by the University of Georgia. The airport received a $750,000 grant from the United States Department of Transportation in 2020 to provide incentives for a commercial airliner to begin services to Athens. After receiving the grant, a local official stated that the airport was negotiating with American Airlines to begin services to Athens.

Facilities and aircraft

Athens–Ben Epps Airport covers an area of 425 acres (172 ha) at an elevation of 812 feet (248 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 2/20 is 3,995 by 100 feet (1,218 x 30 m) and 9/27 is 6,122 by 100 feet (1,866 by 30 meters). For the 12-month period ending April 30, 2023, the airport had 39,471 aircraft operations, an average of 108 per day: 92% general aviation, 6% air taxi, 2% military, and <1% scheduled commercial, At that time there were 82 aircraft based at this airport: 71 single-engine, 8 multi-engine, 1 jet, 1 helicopter, and 1 glider. The University of Georgia Aviation club (Aviation Club at UGA) is based at the airport. The University of Georgia Athletics Association, specifically the football, basketball, baseball and softball teams, use the airport as the primary hub for transporting players, coaches, and staff to and from distant away games.

Airlines and destinations

There are no airlines serving Athens at this time.

Statistics

Other sources