Henderson Field
| |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | U.S. Dept. of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service | ||||||||||
| Operator | American Airports Corp. (under sub-contract with Chugach Industries, Inc.) | ||||||||||
| Serves | Midway Atoll | ||||||||||
| Location | Sand Island, Midway Atoll | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 18 ft / 5 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 28°12′05″N 177°22′53″W / 28.20139°N 177.38139°W / 28.20139; -177.38139 | ||||||||||
| Website | tba | ||||||||||
| Maps | |||||||||||
 Location on Sand Island. Former runways in gray. | |||||||||||
  PMDY Location in the Pacific Ocean | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Henderson Field (IATA: MDY, ICAO: PMDY) is a public airport located on Sand Island in Midway Atoll, an unincorporated territory of the United States. The airport is used as an emergency diversion point for ETOPS operations. It is one of three airfields named after Major Lofton R. Henderson (killed in the Battle of Midway during WWII), together with Henderson Field on Midway's Eastern Island, and Henderson Field in the Solomon Islands. The airfield now provides access to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.
The airfield operated until 1993 as Naval Air Facility Midway. Its construction was begun by Seabees of the 1st Naval Construction Battalion in July 1942 as a bomber strip.[2] After transition from the U.S. Navy to the Department of the Interior, the airport was subsidized by Boeing until 2004. Since 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has fully supported airport operations and maintenance with some assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Henderson Field has no control tower. From November to June, when albatross are typically present, flight arrivals and departures are limited to night-time.[3] (Midway Atoll NWR is the world's largest nesting albatross colony.)
During the early 1950s, the airfield was used as a technical stop by Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) for its Boeing 377 Stratocruiser propliners as part of Pan Am's round the world service from New York City to San Francisco via London, Frankfurt, Delhi, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Guam, Honolulu and other en route stops.[4]
The airfield was previously served by Aloha Airlines with scheduled weekly charter flights to and from Honolulu using a Boeing 737-200 jetliner. In early 2000, Aloha began scheduled 737 passenger service between Midway Island and Honolulu.[5]
Continental Micronesia served Midway with Boeing 727-100 jetliners during the early 1970s although the airport was only used as an "operational stop" on this airline's westbound service from Honolulu to Guam.[6] The routing of these 727 flights was Honolulu - Midway Island - Kwajalein - Majuro - Ponape - Truk - Guam.[7]
Henderson Field covers 1,200 acres (486 ha) and has one runway.[1]
