Albany International Airport is a public use airport located six nautical miles (11 km) northwest of the central business district of Albany, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is owned by the Albany County Airport Authority.
It is an airport of entry serving Albany and located in the town of Colonie. It was built on the site of the Shaker settlement about 6 miles (10 km) north of Albany and stretching north to the hamlet of Verdoy. The airport is the seat of a class C airspace.
ALBANY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HISTORY
Albany International was the first, and remains the oldest, municipal airport in the United States. In 1908 the airstrip was located on a former polo field on Loudonville Road, three miles (5 km) north of the city in the town of Colonie. In 1909, the airport was moved to Westerlo Island, which is in the city of Albany, but at that time was in the town of Bethlehem; the airport was named at this time. The airport was named after Teddy Roosevelt’s son, Quentin, a fighter pilot during World War I. A $10,000 prize was established for sustained flight between Albany and New York City; Glen Curtiss achieved this feat on May 29, 1910. Other early pioneers of aviation that stopped at this early field were Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and James Doolittle.
Mayor John Boyd Thacher II once said “a city without the foresight to build an airport for the new traffic may soon be left behind in the race for competition”. He therefore decided to build in 1928 a new modern airport on the Shaker site near Albany-Shaker Road in Colonie, not far from the original polo fields used as the first site of the municipal airport. The Shakers not only sold the land used but also loaned the use of tractors and tools.
The early Albany Airport was often closed and threatened with closure which prompted repeated improvements in the late 1930s and 1940s. The airport was closed from January 1939 until December 1940, when it reopened to traffic during daylight hours only, and then with no restrictions since January 1942. The airport has not been closed (other than for weather and emergency landings) since.
ALBANY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LOCATION
ALBANY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FACTS
ICAO/IATA: KALB/ALB
Lat: 42°44′57″N
Long: 073°48′07″W
Elevation: 285 ft.
Runway length available: 01/19 7200×150 ft. :: 10/28 7200×150 ft.
