page_title: Asheville Regional Airport
section_title: Airline service:  1948-1996
hierarchical_section_title: Asheville Regional Airport / Airline service:  1948-1996
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Außenansicht
context_page_description: Asheville Regional Airport is a Class C airport near Interstate 26 near the town of Fletcher, 9 miles south of downtown Asheville, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, United States. It is owned by the Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority. The Federal Aviation Administration National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2019–2023, in which it is categorized as a small-hub primary commercial service facility. In 2019 it served an all-time record number of passengers for the airport, 1,616,762, an increase of 43% over 2018 and the sixth consecutive year of record traffic.
  The airport opened with a 6500-foot runway in 1961, replacing the former airport at 35.439°N 82.481°W.
context_section_description: In 1948 Capital Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Piedmont Airlines (1948-1989) served the former Asheville airport, all with Douglas DC-3s.  Capital flew nonstop to Charlotte and Knoxville; Delta flew nonstop to Greenville, SC, and Knoxville;  Piedmont flew nonstop to Tri-Cities, TN and Charlotte.
  In 1961 Capital Airlines flew Vickers Viscounts into the recently opened new airport with nonstop service to Atlanta, Tri-Cities, TN and Winston/Salem. Capital was acquired by and merged into United Airlines which in 1963 flew Viscounts and Douglas DC-6Bs nonstop to Atlanta, Greensboro, NC, Raleigh/Durham and Washington D.C. National Airport. In 1966 Delta had one daily flight from Asheville, a Douglas DC-7 nonstop to Knoxville and direct to Louisville and Chicago O'Hare Airport. In 1966 Piedmont Fairchild F-27s and Martin 4-0-4s flew nonstop to Atlanta, Charlotte, Knoxville, Roanoke and Tri-Cities, TN.
  Piedmont Airlines introduced Boeing 727-100s in 1967, a typical routing being Atlanta - Asheville - Winston/Salem - Roanoke - New York LaGuardia Airport. In 1969 United Boeing 737-200s flew nonstop to Atlanta and Raleigh/Durham while Delta McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s flew nonstop to Knoxville with same plane service to Louisville and Chicago O'Hare Airport.
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  In the April 1975 Official Airline Guide Delta, Piedmont, and United served Asheville.  Delta had one daily McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 from Knoxville, originating at Chicago O'Hare Airport via Louisville.  Piedmont flew Boeing 737-200s, Fairchild Hiller FH-227s and NAMC YS-11s nonstop from Atlanta, Charleston, WV, Charlotte, Danville, VA, Fayetteville, NC, Greenville/Spartanburg, SC, Knoxville, Lynchburg, VA, Nashville, Roanoke, Tri-Cities, TN and Winston/Salem, and direct 737s from Memphis, Richmond, VA and Washington D.C. National Airport. United was flying nonstop Boeing 737-200s from Atlanta, Charleston, WV and Raleigh/Durham. In 1976 United flew direct to Tampa via Atlanta; in 1978 Piedmont 737s flew direct to Chicago O'Hare Airport via Tri-Cities, TN.
  Piedmont was the only jet airline at Asheville in February 1985, with Boeing 727-200 and Fokker F28 Fellowship nonstops from Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte and Roanoke and one-stop 727s from Denver, Miami and New York LaGuardia Airport, plus one-stop F28s from New York Newark Airport according to the Official Airline Guide. This same OAG also lists nonstop Delta Connection (operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines) de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7s and Short 360s from Atlanta, and Sunbird Airlines and Wheeler Airlines Beechcraft 99s from Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham, plus Wheeler nonstops from Tri-Cities, TN.
  American Eagle BAe Jetstream 31s and Saab 340s began serving AVL from Nashville in 1986 and Raleigh-Durham in 1987. These flights ended in 1995 when American closed both hubs.
  The April 1995 OAG listed six airlines at Asheville:  American Eagle, Delta, Delta Connection (operated by both Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) and Comair), USAir (which had merged with Piedmont in 1989) and USAir Express.  Delta and Delta Connection (ASA) had a total of eight nonstops a day from Atlanta, Delta on McDonnell Douglas MD-80s and Delta Connection on ATR 72s and Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias. Delta Connection (operated by Comair) also had three EMB-120 Brasilias a day from Cincinnati, a Delta hub.  USAir and USAir Express had a total of nine nonstops a day from the USAir hub in Charlotte, USAir with Boeing 737-300s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s and USAir Express with Short 360s.  USAir Express also had three nonstop Jetstream 31s a day from Raleigh/Durham, some stopping in Greenville/Spartanburg. Delta ended mainline jets to AVL in December 1995, with ASA taking over with British Aerospace 146 regional jets; however, Delta currently operates mainline Boeing 717-200 service nonstop to its Atlanta hub in addition to Delta Connection regional jet flights.
  In 1996 Midway Airlines briefly flew to its hub at Raleigh-Durham via Midway Connection partner Corporate Airlines Jetstream 31s.
caption: The front of the terminal and the control tower
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