Blythe Airport Blythe Airport is a county owned , public use airport located six nautical miles ( 7 mile , 11 km ) west of the central business district of Blythe , in Riverside County , California , United States . It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011 – 2015 , which categorized it as a " general aviation " facility . History . Prior to World War II , Blythe Airport was established by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in the late 1930s as an emergency landing field on the Los Angeles to Phoenix airway . A commercial airport was opened in April 1940 . The airport was leased by the United States Army in 1942 , and between 1942 and 1944 , the U . S . War Department acquired 4 , 248 . 12 acres in fee from various private parties , 6 . 54 acres of public domain land via transfer , 282 . 61 acres by lease from the County of Riverside , a 1 . 98 - acre easement , and a 0 . 63 - acre permit . The Army encroached on another 20 . 18 acres , increasing the total acquisition for Blythe Army Air Field to 4 , 560 . 06 acres . Over 650 buildings and other types of military facilities and improvements were constructed at this airfield , including hangars , office buildings , barracks , warehouses , runways and taxiways , water and sewer systems , a hospital , and fuel and ordnance storage . In addition to the main facility at Blythe , several auxiliary airfields were built to support the main facility . During World War II the airfield was known as Blythe Army Air Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces . The use of the site began on May 14 , 1942 . Blythe AAB was built for the I Troop Carrier Command but was given up by that command , without ever occupying it , to the Fourth Air Force as part of the United States Army Desert Training Center ( DTC ) was established by General George S . Patton shortly after the outbreak of the war , Blythe was the only air field with construction already under way . For six months , the air field served as the sole air support base for the Army maneuvers under way at the DTC . The 46th Bombardment Group and later the 85th Bombardment Group occupied the field during the CAMA days and flew a variety of planes including A - 31 Vengeance s and A - 36 Apache s . Once air fields were established at three new locations within the DTC ( Thermal , Rice and Desert Center ) , Blythe field was no longer required for the Army ' s desert exercises . After General Patton was sent to North Africa , the name of the training center was changed to the California - Arizona Maneuver Area ( CAMA ) . The 46th and 85th Bomb Groups were reassigned . The Army Air Forces then used Blythe as a heavy bombardment crew training base for the Second Air Force 16th Bombardment Training Wing 358th Combat Crew Training School . The field ' s mission was changed to the training of combat air crews prior to shipment overseas . The 85th Bombardment Group and the 390th Bombardment Group were active at Blythe AAF in 1942 and 1943 . Up to 75 B - 17 Flying Fortress es were flown and maintained at the base . During 1943 and 1944 , Blythe AAF was used for squadron pilot training , then in December 1944 reverted to an active heavy bombardment base with B - 24 Liberator s Known units assigned to Blythe Army Airfield were : At its peak in December , 1943 , the base had a population just short of 8000 uniformed and civilian personnel . This was twice the population of the city of Blythe , the only community within a one hundred mile radius . By April 1944 only a housekeeping force was assigned to the base . By July 1944 the field was abandoned by the Army and declared surplus . 126 airmen were killed in Blythe Army Air Base - related accidents . Blythe Army Air Field later became a sub - base of Muroc Army Air Field ( now Edwards Air Force Base ) on 30 June 1945 , and was inactivated on 18 October 1945 , although during October – December 1946 , the 477th Composite Group ( Medium ) used the airfield for desert maneuvers , flying B - 25 Mitchell s . The airfield was declared surplus in 1946 and was reported to the General Service Administration for disposal . On September 10 , 1948 , the entire 4 , 560 - acre site was transferred to the County of Riverside via quitclaim deed dated September 10 , 1948 Today a modern airport has been built on the site of the former wartime airfield ; however most of the area of what was Blythe Army Air Field has been abandoned to the natural landscape being empty and undeveloped . Deteriorating abandoned runways and concrete parking ramps are clearly visible in aerial photography . Past Airline Service . Blythe was served by Bonanza Air Lines with scheduled passenger flights utilizing Fairchild F - 27 turbprop aircraft . Service was operated to Los Angeles , Phoenix , Tucson and other destinations . Bonanza then merged with Pacific Air Lines and West Coast Airlines to form Air West which continued to operate F - 27 service from the airport . Air West was then renamed Hughes Airwest which in turn eventually ceased all passenger service from Blythe . Although this air carrier never served Blythe , Pacific Southwest Airlines ( PSA ) conducted jet training flights from the Blythe Airport on occasion . PSA was based in San Diego which made Blythe a convenient training location for its flight crews operating Boeing , Douglas and McDonnell Douglas jetliners . Facilities and aircraft . Blythe Airport covers an area of 3 , 904 acres ( 1 , 580 hectare ) at an elevation of 399 feet ( 122 m ) above mean sea level . It has two asphalt paved runways : 8 / 26 is 6 , 543 by 150 feet ( 1 , 994 x 46 m ) and 17 / 35 is 5 , 800 by 100 feet ( 1 , 768 x 30 m ) . For the 12 - month period ending December 31 , 2010 , the airport had 25 , 150 aircraft operations , an average of 68 per day : 99 % general aviation and 1 % military . At that time there were 5 aircraft based at this airport : 60 % single - engine and 40 % multi - engine .