The airport was built during World War II. It was named Walseth Air Force Base in honor of Major Marvin E. Walseth, a United States Army Air Forces pilot who died when his aircraft crashed on Umnak in July 1942 while returning from a reconnaissance mission over Kiska.[3] It was closed by the United States Air Force in April 1947. It was excessed to the War Assets Administration and taken over by the Territory of Alaska.
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The airport previously had scheduled passenger service to Anchorage (ANC) provided by several commuter air carriers over the years but does not have airline flights at the present time.[7]
Seward Airport covers an area of 302 acres (122 ha) at an elevation of 22 feet (7 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 13/31 is 4,240 by 100 feet (1,292 x 30 m) and 16/34 is 2,279 by 75 feet (695 x 23 m).[1]
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2009, the airport had 10,510 aircraft operations, an average of 28 per day: 57% general aviation, 43% air taxi, and <1% military. At that time there were 25 single-engine aircraft based at this airport.[1]
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Aviation
