THE EASTERN IOWA AIRPORT

'The Eastern Iowa Airport' is a commercial airport in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the United States. The airport serves Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and other communities in eastern Iowa. It is located along Wright Brothers Boulevard on the southern edge of Cedar Rapids, about two miles (3.2 kilometers) west of Interstate 380.

Contents

Passenger experience

History

Airlines and destinations

Concourse B

Concourses C

References

External links

Passenger experience

This airport is served mostly by regional jets and a couple turboprop flights via Mesaba/Northwest Airlink to its Minneapolis hub. Mainline MD-80 jet service is provided by Allegiant Air. Northwest also operates mainline DC-9 service to its Minneapolis-Saint Paul hub. American, Delta and United use all regional jets to their hubs from the Eastern Iowa Airport. The airport is served by most major airlines, but most flights are to major hubs, so direct flights are rare except that Allegiant serves Las Vegas, Mesa-Phoenix and Orlando. The airport serves 11 non-stop destinations. The airport is relatively mid-sized, with 14 gates. Six gates on the upper concourse, concourse C, are equipped with jet bridge boarding. Gates B1-B7 are ground level boarding areas, although at one time B7 did have a jet bridge attached. An expansion has been announced to enlarge the B Concourse to add a newer boarding and gate area. All services are pre-security, except one gift shop/snack bar, which is located in the boarding area. In the pre-security area, there is a Sam Adams Brewhouse, that serves snacks such as hamburgers and nachos, as well as a small deli and a Pizza Hut Express with a view of the tarmac. There is also the typical airport gift shop, and a small coffee shop and tourist information booth near the car rental area. A small exhibit on the airport's history is also near check-in. There is adequate seating pre-security, so it is not necessary to clear security until it is announced that passengers on a flight should do so. Usually, the longest a passenger has to wait in line is five minutes during normal times, however at busier times of the year like the holidays and spring break, as well as the early morning bank of flights outbound to the hubs between 5am-8am lines can be longer.
For arriving passengers, this airport's small size provides a short walk to the baggage claim area. The baggage belts (there are two) are easily accessible because most of the flights usually do not contain more than seventy passengers with the exception of Allegiant's MD-83's and Northwest's DC-9, which contain more than 100. Also, there are several national rental car company counters, and a courtesy shuttle counter in this area.

History

Cedar Rapids' first airport was Hunter Field, a private airport established by Dan Hunter in the 1920s. It was located along Bowling Street SW north of U.S. Highway 30. The airport was originally used for private charter service, pilot training, and airmail, but it was inoperable during bad weather. This led to the need for a new airport.
The Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport was completed with military funding in 1944 but was not officially dedicated until April 27, 1947. The Cedar Rapids Parks Department operated the airport until a new Airport Commission was established in 1945; Donald Hines, who led the effort to build the airport, was the commission's director until he retired in 1973 (he died in 1975). Scheduled east-west passenger service from United Airlines began in 1947, and north-south passenger service from Ozark Airlines began in 1957. By 1969, the airport handled 31 commercial flights per day and recorded 353,000 passengers a year.
The present terminal was dedicated in 1986 with a ceremony that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole attended. The Cedar Rapids Airport was renamed The Eastern Iowa Airport in 1997 in order to reflect its status as a regional airport. In 2000 the airport enplaned and deplaned one million passengers for the first time in its history; it set a record in 2005 with 1,004,434 passengers. [1]

Airlines and destinations

Concourse B

'Note:' Concourse B is located on the ground level.
Concourse B has 7 Gates: B1 - B7

★ American Airlines Gate B2

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★ AmericanConnection operated by Trans States Airlines (St. Louis)

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★ American Eagle (Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, St. Louis)

★ Northwest Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul) Gate B7

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★ Northwest Airlink operated by Mesaba Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul)

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★ Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul)

Concourses C

Concourse C has 6 Gates: C1 - C6

★ Allegiant Air Gate C5 (Las Vegas, Mesa/Phoenix [begins October 25], Orlando-Sanford)

★ American Airlines Gates C2, C4

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★ AmericanConnection operated by Trans States Airlines (See Concourse B)

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★ American Eagle (See Concourse B)

★ Delta Air Lines Gate C1

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★ Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Atlanta)

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★ Delta Connection operated by Comair (Atlanta, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky)

★ Northwest Airlines Gate C3 (See Concourse B)

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★ Northwest Airlink operated by Mesaba Airlines (See Concourse B)

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★ Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines (See Concourse B)

★ United Airlines Gates C5, C6

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★ United Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare)

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★ United Express operated by Shuttle America (Chicago-O'Hare)

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★ United Express operated by SkyWest (Chicago-O'Hare, Denver)

References

★ The Eastern Iowa Airport: History from The Eastern Iowa Airport's website, accessed February 26, 2006

External links

★ The Eastern Iowa Airport (official site)

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