Eppley Airfield


Eppley Airfield is an airport three miles northeast of downtown Omaha, in Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. It is the largest airport in Nebraska, serving ten times more passengers than all other Nebraska airports combined. It is owned and operated by the Omaha Airport Authority.
The airport occupies and handles about 130 daily airline flights to 33 non-stop destinations with 7 airlines. Eppley had its busiest year in 2018, serving over five million passengers.

History

Eppley Airfield began as an extension of Levi Carter Park near East Omaha in 1925. That year, the City of Omaha acquired 200 acres of cleared land on the east side of Carter Lake. Almost immediately, planes started landing and taking off there. A lawsuit was launched against the City in 1927 when a group wanted to build a hangar there. The lawsuit failed and the land was called both the Omaha Municipal Airport and the American Legion Airport.
The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 42 scheduled airline departures per day, with 23 by United Airlines and 19 by Braniff International Airways. The airport is named for Eugene C. Eppley, founder of the Eppley Hotel chain, from whose estate $1.0 million was used to ready the then-Omaha Municipal Airport for jet aircraft in 1959–60. This was matched by the federal government and improvements were made to handle jets at the airport, which was renamed Eppley Airfield in his honor in 1960. The first jets to land in Omaha were United Airlines Boeing 720s in August 1960.
The terminal building, opened in 1961, was designed by James C. Buckley, Inc. Concourse B opened in 1970 and was remodeled when Concourse A opened in 1986.

Hubs and operations

, then known as Midwest Express Airlines, operated a hub at Eppley Airfield from 1995 to 2002 with flights to Milwaukee, Newark, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Diego, and Washington–Reagan; the airport remained a focus city with nonstop flights to Milwaukee and Washington–Reagan until the airline merged with Frontier Airlines in 2009.
During 2017, Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines were the first-, second-, and third-largest carriers and served 33.7 percent, 21.6 percent, and 18.7 percent, of passengers, respectively.
The airport has an on-site U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility that handles international, charter, and private flights. Eppley's first commercial, international flight began May 1, 2018, when Air Canada Express launched a daily flight to Toronto Pearson International Airport. This service ended on October 4, 2019.

Expansion

Airport

Construction and upgrades are planned for Eppley Airfield's facilities and infrastructure based on passenger growth milestones. An expansion to runway 18/36 will be added in order to enable larger aircraft to land, as well as an enlargement of taxiway A. Concourses A and B will be joined together by a long corridor, and expanded in the northern direction, adding 8 gates. This expansion will also consolidate passenger security screening. After expansion, there will be a total of 28 gates. On either side of the unified terminal, the ramp will be extended for overnight aircraft parking.
In January 2016, Eppley Airfield completed expansion of its on-site United States Customs and Border Protection facility to provide greater customs and inspection services for international passengers. Eppley Airfield is classified as a "Customs Landing Rights Airport" for international flights by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Scheduled, commercial international service began on May 1, 2018 when Air Canada Express launched a daily flight to Toronto–Pearson. The airport also handles international cargo, charter, and private flights.

Location

The airport is northeast of downtown Omaha in east Omaha. Although the airport is in Nebraska on the west side of the Missouri River, it is surrounded on the east, west, and south by the State of Iowa: the Missouri River formerly formed an oxbow west of the land that became Eppley Airfield. The river cut off the oxbow during an 1877 flood, leaving behind Carter Lake on a portion of its former course; the Supreme Court ruled in 1893 that though the land cut off by the river's changed route now lay west of the Missouri, it remained part of Iowa. This land eventually became the city of Carter Lake, Iowa.

Terminals

Central Terminal

The Central Terminal contains the ground transportation center and rental car counters.

South Terminal

Concourse A includes gates A1 through A10, baggage claims 1 through 3, and serves Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Frontier Airlines. Gate assignments: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Frontier Airlines.

North Terminal

Concourse B includes gates B11 through B20, baggage claims 4 through 6, and serves Allegiant Air, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Gate assignments: Allegiant Air, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Gates B15 and B20 are not assigned.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Domestic Destinations map

Cargo

Statistics

Top destinations

Carrier shares

Annual traffic

Ground transportation

Line 16 provides limited weekday-only rush-hour service southbound toward downtown and northbound toward the North Omaha Transit Center. Passenger access is located directly outside the central terminal.

Accidents and incidents