San Diego International Airport Receives $2 Million Grant From The FAA

 

 
 
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San Diego International Airport Receives $2 Million Grant From The FAA

By Mike Mitchell
 

October 22, 2011 - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded a $2 million grant to San Diego International Airport to reduce the use of conventional fuels at the airport to improve air quality. 

“We are committed to helping airports around the country make the necessary infrastructure investments that will reduce fuel costs and help protect the environment,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The grant through the FAA’s Voluntary Airport Low Emission (VALE) program is part of a major airport improvement project at San Diego International Airport called “The Green Build.”  

The grant will enable the airport to install a land-side power unit and pre-conditioned air unit at each of 10 new aircraft gates, as well as seven air units at existing gates. The units will allow aircraft arriving at the gates to shut off their auxiliary power units and connect to a cleaner central heating and cooling system, saving fuel and reducing aircraft emissions on the ground. 

 “The FAA encourages airlines and airports to find creative ways to reduce aviation’s impact on the environment,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “We applaud all ofSan Diego’s efforts to make the airport an environmentally conscious member of the community.” 

San Diego International Airport (IATA: SAN, ICAO: KSAN, FAA LID: SAN), sometimes referred to as Lindbergh Field, is a public airport located 3 mi (4.8 km) northwest of the central business district of San Diego, California and 20 mi (32 km) from the Mexico – United States border at Tijuana, Mexico. It is operated by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.  

San Diego International is the busiest single-runway commercial service airport in the United States, and second in the world after London Gatwick, with approximately 600 departures and arrivals carrying 50,000 passengers each day, and a total of 18.3 million passengers in 2007.

San Diego is the largest metropolitan area of the United States which does not serve as a hub nor secondary hub for any airline, however the airport is a focus city for Southwest Airlines, who is the largest operator. The top five airlines in terms of market share for 2010 were Southwest Airlines (38.45%), United Airlines (17.05%), Delta Air Lines (10.73%), American Airlines (8.8%) and US Airways (5.94%). 

 

The airport is located near the site of the old Ryan Airlines factory, but it is not the same as Dutch Flats, the Ryan airstrip where Charles Lindbergh flight tested the Spirit of St. Louis before his historic transatlantic flight. The site of Dutch Flats is on the other side of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, in the Midway area, near the current intersection of Midway and Barnett avenues.  

Inspired by Lindbergh's historic flight and excited to have made the plane he flew, the city of San Diego passed a bond issue in 1928 for construction of a two-runway municipal airport to be operated by the city. Lindbergh himself encouraged the building of the airport and agreed to lend his name to it.

The new airport, dedicated on August 16, 1928, was given the name San Diego Municipal Airport – Lindbergh Field, by which name it is still known. This naming occurred because San Diego was the city from which Lindbergh began the journey that would ultimately become the first solo transatlantic flight, in addition to being the place where his aircraft was designed, built, and tested, at Dutch Flats. The airport was the first federally certified airfield to serve all aircraft types, including seaplanes.

 
   
In fiscal year 2011, the FAA provided VALE grants for 12 low-emission projects at 11 airports.  Since 2005, the FAA has funded 52 low-emission projects at 30 airports, representing a total investment of $140 million ($110 million in federal grants and $30 million in local airport matching funds) in clean airport technology. Through VALE, airports are reducing ozone emissions by approximately 400 tons per year – the equivalent of removing 17,650 cars and trucks off the road annually.

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