Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport is a public and military use airport owned by Savannah Airport Commission and located seven nautical miles (8 mi, 13 km) northwest of the central business district of Savannah, a city in Chatham County, Georgia, United States. It was formerly known as Savannah International Airport, Travis Field and Chatham Field. The airport is just off Interstate 95, between Savannah and the city of Pooler, Georgia. It is the chief commercial airport for the three-county Savannah metropolitan area, although nearly 40 percent of the airport’s total passenger traffic is bound for Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, located approximately 38.5 miles (approx. 42 minutes) away by car.
SAVANNAH HILTON HEAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HISTORY
The first Savannah Municipal Airport opened on September 20, 1929 with the inauguration of air service between New York City and Miami by Eastern Air Express. In 1932 a city resolution names the airport Hunter Field. A trolley car was used as the first terminal at Hunter Field in the mid-1930s. In 1940 the U.S. Army Air Corps proposed a complete takeover of Hunter Field if a war started. While the commercial airlines continued to land at Hunter Field, a decision was made to construct a second Municipal Airport in response to the increased military presence.
The City of Savannah acquired a 600 acre tract in the vicinity of Cherokee Hill, one of the highest elevations in the county, and construction of a new airfield commenced under a WPA project. Three runways were constructed running N-S, E-W, and NE-SW; each 3,600 feet long. In 1942, before the completion of this new airfield, the U.S. Army Air Corps found it necessary to take over the new facility and start additional construction to carry out their mission. They named the airfield Chatham Field and it was used until the end of World War II as a bomber base and crew training base for B-24’s and fighter aircraft.
SAVANNAH HILTON HEAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LOCATION
SAVANNAH HILTON HEAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FACTS
ICAO/IATA: KSAV/SAV
Lat: 32°07′39″N
Long: 081°12′08″W
Elevation: 50 ft.
Runway length available: 01/19 7002×150 ft. :: 10/28 9351×150 ft.
