**Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois **, also known as Williamson County Regional Airport, is five miles west of Marion, in Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The airport is owned by the Williamson County Airport Authority. It sees one airline, subsidized by the federal government's Essential Air Service program at an annual cost of $2,562,819 or $141 per passenger. On November 11, 2016 during the grand opening ceremony for the new terminal, the airport was renamed to "Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois" to honor veterans and better reflect the regional nature of the airport. Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 3,631 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008; 3,399 in 2009; and 8,047 in 2010. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2025–2029 categorized it as a non-hub primary commercial service facility. It is the tenth busiest of the 12 commercial airports in Illinois.

Facilities

The airport covers 1,300 acres (526 ha) at an elevation of 472 feet (144 m). It has two runways: the primary runway 2/20 is 8,012 by 150 feet (2,443 x 46 m) asphalt; and the crosswind runway 11/29 is 4,997 by 100 feet (1,523 x 30 m) asphalt/concrete. In the year ending December 31, 2022, the airport had 27,751 aircraft operations, an average of 76 per day: 69% general aviation, 31% air taxi and less than 1% military. In April 2024, there were 24 aircraft based at this airport: 18 single-engine, 4 multi-engine, 1 jet and 1 helicopter. The airport has one fixed-base operator, Midwest Aviation, which is located at the base of the control tower. Midwest Aviation has one rental aircraft, a Cessna 172 G1000 (N824MC). Midwest also has one crew car and also offers aircraft hangar space, aircraft washing, and fueling for both 100LL and Jet-A.

Airline and destination

On November 6, 2006, Mesa Airlines announced that, in February 2007, subsidiary Air Midwest would begin flying to Decatur Airport and on to Chicago Midway International Airport. Mesa announced service from Marion would end on November 9, 2007. On October 23, 2007, Allegiant Air announced service to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. Service was to start on February 1, 2008 and would fly twice weekly; however, Allegiant dropped the plan on November 9, 2007, citing high fuel prices. In November 2022, Cape Air, which was the carrier serving the airport at the time, requested to terminate its essential air service contract at the airport, citing rising costs that were causing it to lose money at the airport even with federal subsidies. Round-trip flights continued until Contour Airlines took over in August 2023. Essential Air Service flights were previously on Great Lakes Airlines. Ozark DC-3s started landing in 1955; their DC-9 flights ended in early 1982.

Accidents & Incidents

Ground transportation

There is no public transit service directly serving the airport. However, Rides Mass Transit District provides service nearby. The Marion-Carbondale Route stops on Meadowland Parkway Monday through Saturday.

Other sources