Orlando Executive Airport Orlando Executive Airport is a public airport three miles ( 6 km ) east of downtown Orlando , in Orange County , Florida . It is owned by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and serves general aviation . Overview . Orlando Executive Airport is a general aviation and corporate aviation airport . Its proximity to the State Road 408 East - West Expressway and downtown Orlando makes it a popular airport . The airport is still the " minor " airport of Orlando , Florida , as Orlando International Airport is the airport for airline flights , drawing more passengers every year . The airport has been used for special air industry events and showcases including the National Business Aviation Association ( NBAA ) Convention which was held there in 2008 and again in 2009 . Orlando Executive Airport has been selected to be the location for the upcoming 2012 and 2014 NBAA Annual Convention and Meeting , as well . The airport has also been used since the 1990s as a landing site and staging site by Marine Helicopter Squadron One ( VMX - 1 ) for Marine One and other supporting VMX - 1 helicopter operations during Presidential visits to Orlando . Most Presidential visits are on Air Force One which lands at Orlando International Airport ( MCO ) . Facilities and aircraft . Executive Airport covers at an elevation of 113 feet ( 34 m ) above mean sea level . It has two asphalt runways : 7 / 25 is 6 , 003 by 150 feet ( 1 , 830 x 46 m ) and 13 / 31 is 4 , 638 by 100 feet ( 1 , 414 x 30 m ) . In the year ending April 21 , 2010 the airport had 218 , 162 aircraft operations , an average of 597 per day : 94 % general aviation , 5 % air taxi and < 1 % military . There were then 210 aircraft based at this airport : 66 % single - engine , 20 % multi - engine , 9 % jet and 5 % helicopter . History . Opened in 1928 as the Orlando Municipal Airport , the airport was the first commercial airport in central Florida . The United States Postal Service started airmail service to Orlando the following year . The United States Army Air Corps took control of the airport in 1940 for use as a training facility and renamed it the Orlando Army Air Base . For the next six years , the airport remained under military control . In June 1941 , the Army Air Corps became the United States Army Air Forces and beginning in late 1941 through mid - 1943 , Orlando Army Air Base was used by I Bomber Command and later by units of the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command ( AAFAC ) to fly antisubmarine patrols along both the east coast as well as over the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Straits . With the lessening of the U - Boat threat , Orlando AAB became the home of the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics ( AAFSAT ) and subsequently as the Army Air Forces Tactical Center ( AAFTC ) . In 1943 the AAFSAT began training units in Night Fighter operations . the 481st Night Fighter Group was established , equipped with the Douglas P - 70 , a variation of the A - 20 Havoc attack aircraft used for training . Squadrons attached to the group in 1943 and 1944 were the 348th , 349th , 420th , 423d , 425th , 426th and 427th Night Fighter Squadrons , which , after completion of training were sent overseas to either the Pacific or European Theaters for combat . In 1946 the airfield was released to the city of Orlando , while the military support facilities north and northeast of the airport remained under US Army Air Forces control as a non - flying administrative and technical training installation . With the establishment of the United States Air Force as a separate service in 1947 , this installation was renamed Orlando Air Force Base , serving as a technical training facility for the Air Training Command and Tactical Air Command , and as a headquarters installation for the Military Air Transport Service ( later Military Airlift Command ) and the Air Rescue Service . In 1968 the installation was transferred to the United States Navy and renamed Naval Training Center Orlando . The installation served as one of three Navy enlisted recruit training centers ( boot camps ) and as home to various technical training schools , to include the Navy Nuclear Power School for officer and enlisted personnel . The 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission ( BRAC 1993 ) directed that NTC Orlando be closed no later than 1 October 1999 . The base property was sold to the City of Orlando , which in turn sold it to private developers . Most of the installation was demolished and residential and commercial properties developed on the site , renamed Baldwin Park . In 1946 commercial service with National Airlines and Eastern Air Lines began at the now civilian Orlando Municipal Airport . Five years later the airport built its main terminal , a two - story structure with a built - in control tower ; this terminal building stood until late 1999 . The April 1957 OAG shows 20 scheduled weekday departures : 14 Eastern and 6 National . Eastern had a nonstop to Atlanta ; no other nonstop flights left the state . The August 1955 diagram shows runway 17 4480 ft along the west side of the field , runway 18 5071 ft , runway 4 5422 ft , runway 10R 5313 ft ( still called 10R , though 10L was closed ) and runway 13 5568 ft . By the early 1960s development around the airport had made airport expansion unlikely . The airport ' s 6000 foot main runway wasn ' t long enough for early jet airliners such as the Boeing 707 , Douglas DC - 8 and Convair 880 , so the city and county lobbied the U . S . Air Force to investigate converting McCoy Air Force Base , a Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) bomber base about eight miles to the south , to a joint civil - military airport with commercial jet operations on undeveloped land on the east side of the base and military operations on the west side . In 1961 the airport was renamed again , this time called Herndon Airport after former Orlando city engineer " Pat " Herndon , the name change being in preparation for moving commercial air service to the new Orlando Jetport at McCoy that was to be collocated at McCoy AFB , the facility which is known today as the Orlando International Airport . By 1968 commercial airlines no longer served Herndon . In 1976 the City of Orlando ceded control of the airport and transferred the property , its former City of Orlando Aviation Department , and all operational responsibilities to the newly established Greater Orlando Aviation Authority ( GOAA ) , chartered by the Florida State Legislature to operate and manage all publicly owned airports in Orange County , Florida . GOAA renamed the airport Orlando Executive Airport in 1982 and in 1998 to its present name of Executive Airport .