Mammoth Yosemite Airport

Mammoth Yosemite Airport (IATA: MMH, ICAO: KMMH, FAA LID: MMH) is a town-owned public airport seven miles (11 km; 6.1 nmi) east of Mammoth Lakes, in Mono County, California, United States.[1] Also known as Mammoth Lakes Airport[2] or Mammoth–June Lake Airport,[3] it is mainly used for general aviation, but has scheduled passenger flights operated by one airline which primarily serves the airport on a seasonal basis during the winter ski season. Additional scheduled passenger service for the Mammoth area is seasonally available at the nearby Eastern Sierra Regional Airport located in Bishop, CA.[4]

Mammoth Yosemite Airport
Aerial view, March 2010
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerTown of Mammoth Lakes
ServesMammoth Lakes, California
Elevation AMSL7,135 ft / 2,175 m
Coordinates37°37′27″N 118°50′20″W / 37.62417°N 118.83889°W / 37.62417; -118.83889
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata
Map
MMH is located in California
MMH
MMH
Location in California
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
9/27 7,000 2,134 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Aircraft operations6,280
Based aircraft7

The airport had 665 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[5] 6,157 enplanements in 2009, and 19,814 in 2010.[6] The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation airport.[7] However, the report for 2015–2019 upgraded this status to that of a primary/non-hub commercial airport.[8]

Facilities

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View from the airport, December 2013, with Mammoth Mountain in the background

The airport covers 230 acres (93 ha) at an elevation of 7,135 feet (2,175 m). Its one runway, 9/27, is 7,000 by 100 feet (2,134 by 30 m) asphalt.[1]

In 2010 the airport had 8,285 aircraft operations, average 22 per day: 68% general aviation, 20% air taxi, 12% airline, and <1% military. Three aircraft were then based at this airport, all single-engine.[1]

Mammoth Yosemite Airport has a terminal development master plan that will expand operations and will be able to accommodate bigger aircraft. The new terminal facilities will include a new terminal building itself, an airline parking apron, a deicing apron, access roads, automobile parking facilities, maintenance facilities, and airport offices.[9]

Historical airline service

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Trans Sierra Airlines, a commuter air carrier, was serving the airport in 1971 with four daily flights to Los Angeles (LAX) and two daily flights to San Jose (SJC) operated with Cessna 402 twin prop aircraft.[10] Trans Sierra then changed its name to Sierra Pacific Airlines, which in 1972 was operating 44-passenger seat Convair 440 propliner service to Los Angeles (LAX) and Burbank (BUR).[11] By the mid-1970s, Sierra Pacific Airlines was operating nonstop flights to Los Angeles (LAX), Las Vegas (LAS), Reno (RNO) and Fresno (FAT) as well as one-stop direct service to Burbank (BUR) with Convair 580 turboprops and Handley Page Jetstream commuter propjets.[12][13] Some Sierra Pacific flights made an intermediate stop at the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport located in nearby Bishop while en route to other destinations. Sierra Pacific had ceased all service into the airport by the end of 1979.[14]

In 1980 and 1981, Air Sierra was flying nonstop to Fresno (FAT) with continuing direct service to Lake Tahoe (TVL) with Piper Navajo twin prop aircraft.[15] Also in 1981, Wings West Airlines operating as an independent commuter air carrier was operating nonstop flights to Santa Monica (SMO), Oakland (OAK) and Sacramento (SMF) with Cessna 402 twin prop aircraft.[16] Wings West then ceased serving Mammoth Lakes and subsequently became an American Eagle Airlines affiliate in California. By 1983, Mojave Airlines was operating flights to Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), Ontario (ONT), Inyokern (IYK) and Fox Field (WJF) in Lancaster with Beechcraft C99 turboprops.[17] In 1985, Alpha Air flying as an independent commuter airline was operating nonstop service to Los Angeles (LAX) with Cessna 402 twin prop aircraft.[18]

By the late 1980s, Alpha Air had introduced Beechcraft 1900C turboprops and was flying nonstop service to Los Angeles (LAX), Oakland (OAK) and San Jose (SJC).[19][20] In 1993, Alpha Air added direct service to John Wayne Airport, as well.[21] Alpha Air then became a Trans World Express air carrier via a code sharing agreement with Trans World Airlines (TWA) and was operating Beechcraft 1900C turboprop service on behalf of TWA nonstop to Los Angeles (LAX) and Burbank (BUR) during the early and mid-1990s.[22][23] Another commuter airline, Sierra Mountain Airways, was operating flights from the airport in the late 1980s with service to Burbank (BUR), Fresno (FAT), Long Beach (LGB), Oakland (OAK), Ontario (ONT) and Reno (RNO) flown with small Beechcraft, Cessna and Rockwell Aero Commander prop aircraft.[24]

Airlines and destinations

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AirlinesDestinationsRefs
Advanced Air Seasonal: Los Angeles/Hawthorne, San Diego/Carlsbad [25]

Advanced Air operates Dornier 328JET regional jet aircraft provided by Taos Air on its new seasonal service.[26] Previous passenger flights operated by Horizon Air on behalf of its corporate parent Alaska Airlines as well as seasonal United Express service operated by SkyWest Airlines on behalf of United Airlines in addition to service operated by JSX have all been either discontinued or realigned to the new air carrier.[27] In December 2021, all of the United Express service moved to nearby Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop, California, as the airline made a decision that MMH could no longer support scheduled commercial flights because of poor operational reliability primarily due to weather issues.

Statistics

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Busiest domestic routes from MMH (August 2023 – July 2024)[28]
Rank Airport Passengers Carriers
1 Carlsbad, California 1,750 Advanced Air
2 Hawthorne, California 1,670 Advanced Air

Airline market share

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Largest airlines at MMH
(August 2023 – July 2024)[28]
Rank Airline Passengers Percent of market share
1 Advanced Air 7,022 100.00%

References

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  1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Form 5010 for MMH PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective February 16, 2018.
  2. ^ "Flight Information". The Official Website of Mammoth Lakes CA. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "Mammoth-June Lake Airport – Maps, Driving Directions & Local Area Information". CA HomeTownLocator. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  4. ^ "BIH Bishop Airport (BIH/KBIH)".
  5. ^ "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.
  6. ^ "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
  7. ^ "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF, 2.03 MB) on September 27, 2012.
  8. ^ NPIAS report to Congress, September 2014, Appendix A
  9. ^ "Mammoth Yosemite Airport Terminal Area Development Plan". August 2013.
  10. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, Dec. 1, 1971 Trans Sierra Airlines timetable
  11. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, 1972 Sierra Pacific Airlines timetable
  12. ^ Feb. 1, 1976 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Mammoth Lakes flight schedules
  13. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, Nov. 22, 1976 Sierra Pacific Airlines timetable
  14. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Nov. 15, 1979 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Los Angeles-Mammoth Lakes flight schedules
  15. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Aug. 15, 1980 Air Sierra route map & April 1, 1981 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Fresno flight schedules
  16. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, April 1, 1981 Wings West Airlines route map
  17. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, 1983 Mojave Airlines timetable
  18. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Feb. 15, 1985 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Los Angeles-Mammoth Lakes flight schedules
  19. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Nov. 18, 1988, Alpha Air route map
  20. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Dec. 15, 1989, Official Airline Guide (OAG), Los Angeles-Mammoth Lakes flight schedules
  21. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, May 3, 1993, Alpha Air system timetable
  22. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Dec. 15, 1993, Alpha Air/Trans World Express route map
  23. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, April 2, 1995, Official Airline Guide (OAG), Los Angeles-Mammoth Lakes flight schedules
  24. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, Jan. 1, 1988, Sierra Mountain Airways timetable route map
  25. ^ "Route Map". Advanced Air. March 8, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  26. ^ "Semi-Private Flights | Private Jet Charter | Advanced Airlines". www.advancedairlines.com. November 15, 2019.
  27. ^ ""Play and Ski" with new Alaska Airlines service between Las Vegas and Mammoth Lakes". splash.alaskasworld.com. Archived from the original on 2017-03-15. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  28. ^ a b "RITA – BTS – Transtats". transtats.bts.gov. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
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