Stewart International Airport

New York Stewart International Airport

Stewart International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic/Military
OwnerState of New York
OperatorPort Authority of New York and New Jersey
ServesHudson Valley
Location1180 First Street,
New Windsor, NY[1]
Elevation AMSL491 ft / 150 m
Coordinates41°30′15″N 074°06′17″W / 41.50417°N 74.10472°W / 41.50417; -74.10472
Websitewww.swfny.com
Maps
FAA airport diagram
FAA airport diagram
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
09/27 11,817 3,602 Asphalt
16/34 6,004 1,830 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Length Surface
ft m
H1 40 12 Asphalt
Statistics
Aircraft operations (year ending 4/30/2023)37,133
Based aircraft (2023)54
Total Domestic Passengers (12 months ending Mar 2018)321,000
Sources: FAA[2] and PANYNJ[3]

Stewart International Airport, officially New York Stewart International Airport (IATA: SWF, ICAO: KSWF, FAA LID: SWF), is a public/military airport in Orange County, New York, United States.[2] It is in the southern Hudson Valley, west of Newburgh, south of Kingston, and southwest of Poughkeepsie, approximately 60 miles (97 km) north of Manhattan, New York City.[4] The airport is located within the towns of Newburgh and New Windsor.[5][6] It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a non-hub primary commercial service facility.[7]

Developed in the 1930s as a military base to allow cadets at the nearby United States Military Academy at West Point to learn aviation, it has grown into a significant passenger airport for the mid-Hudson region and continues as a military airfield, housing the 105th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard and Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 452 (VMGR-452) of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. The airport was designated as an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle.[8]

After its closure as a U.S. Air Force base in the 1970s, an ambitious plan by Governor Nelson Rockefeller to expand and develop the airport led to a protracted struggle with local landowners that led to reforms in the state's eminent domain laws but no actual development of the land acquired. In 1981 the 52 American hostages held in Iran made their return to American soil at Stewart.

In 2000 the airport became the first U.S. commercial airport privatized when United Kingdom-based National Express was awarded a 99-year lease on the airport. After postponing its plans to change the facility's name after considerable local opposition, it sold the rights to the airport seven years later;[9] the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey board voted to acquire the remaining 93 years of the lease[10] and later awarded AFCO AvPorts the contract to operate the facility. The Port Authority rebranded the airport as New York Stewart International Airport in 2018 to emphasize its proximity to New York City.[11]

  1. ^ "About the Airport". The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  2. ^ a b FAA Airport Form 5010 for SWF PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. effective June 21, 2018.
  3. ^ "Stewart International Airport". Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
  4. ^ McGeehan, Patrick (January 30, 2011). "An Airport Whose Time May Not Come". The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  5. ^ "Newburgh town, Orange County, New York Archived February 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on February 2, 2011.
  6. ^ "New Windsor town, Orange County, New York Archived February 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on February 2, 2011.
  7. ^ "List of NPIAS Airports" (PDF). FAA.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. October 21, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  8. ^ Randall, Mike (August 9, 2005). "Discovery could land at Stewart, but don't wait". Times Herald-Record. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  9. ^ Logan, Tim (September 29, 2006). "Stewart loses operator". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved September 29, 2006.
  10. ^ "Port Authority Authorizes Purchase of Operating Lease at Stewart International Airport" (Press release). Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. January 25, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2007.
  11. ^ "Stewart is officially rebranded as New York Stewart International Airport". MidHudsonNews.com. June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.