<h2 class="blog-hed2 pb-lg-4 pb-3 text-lg-center">History of Key West International Airport</h2>
<p class="blog-para">Key West's aviation history began in 1913 with a flight to Cuba by Augustin Parlay. In 1928, Pan American Airways began scheduled flights from Key West.</p>
<p class="blog-para">The main runway at Meacham Field was pressed into U.S. Army use after the Pearl Harbour attack, as well as into U.S. Navy use later in World War II as an alternative to the Trumbo Point seaplane base and the main Naval Air Station for fixed-wing and lighter-than-air (blimp) aircraft on Boca Chicca Key. After the war, the city took over what became Key West Municipal Airport. In January 1953, the city gave Monroe County the title to Meacham Field, allowing the county to apply for Federal Aviation Administration grants. Around the same time, the airport became Key West International Airport.</p>
<p class="blog-para">On July 15, 2017, Key West International Airport was awarded a grant of $6.5 million by the FAA to assist in a $10 million runway project. The project added 277 feet to the runway for takeoffs and landings, as well as 10 feet-wide shoulders paved on each side of the runway. Construction work began in January 2018, and all construction was done at night.</p>
<h2 class="blog-hed2 pb-lg-4 pb-3 text-lg-left">Facilities Key West International Airport</h2>
<p class="blog-para">Key West International Airport covers 334 acres (135 ha) at an elevation of 3 feet (1 m). Its one runway, 09/27, is 5,076 feet long and 100 feet wide (1,547 x 30 m) and has an asphalt surface.</p>
<p class="blog-para">The length of the runway limits the number of aircraft that can serve the airport. Currently, the largest aircraft that serve the airport are the Airbus A319 and the similarly sized Boeing 737-700, both shortened variants of the popular narrow-body mainline aircraft. Additionally, flights departing from EYW often have weight restrictions.The airport has two terminals designed by Mark Moscow and Dwayne Stark of URS; Moscow also worked on Baltimore-Washington International Airport. The older ground-level terminal building opened in 1957 and now serves arriving passengers. The terminal was expanded with the addition of a second building elevated over the parking lot in February 2009. With an area of about 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2), it more than doubled the airport's terminal space. The newer building includes an elevated roadway and houses ticketing, check-in, and the airport's security checkpoint. The older building was then renovated, with the former ticketing area becoming an expanded departure gate lounge, and the baggage claim area was then expanded into the former departure lounge. The two buildings are connected by an enclosed walkway. Parking for 300 vehicles is at ground level beneath the newer terminal&mdash;150 spaces for rental cars and 150 for the public.</p>
<p class="blog-para">In November 2022, the airport broke ground on the construction of a new $98.8 million passenger concourse. This concourse will be nearly 50,000 square feet in size and feature a new departures area, an upgraded security checkpoint, additional baggage areas, and new gates featuring seven jet bridges. The project is expected to be completed in early 2025. In 2011, the airport had 62,293 aircraft operations, averaging 170 per day: 71% general aviation, 16% air taxi, 13% airline, and 1% military. At the time, 59 aircraft were based at the airport: 61% single-engine, 37% multi-engine, and 2% helicopter.</p>
<p><img class="img-fluid p-lg-0 rounded w-100" title="Cozumel International Airport " src="../../main/img/airport/key/1.webp" alt="Cozumel International Airport " width="950px" height="500px"></p>