Anderson Regional Airport is a public airport 3 miles southwest of Anderson, in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. It is one of the busiest airports in upstate South Carolina. It receives over 14,000 visitors each year and generates over $13 million annually. Anderson has no airline service or concourses for gates, and no control tower, but in 2007 one runway was extended to handle larger aircraft. In May 2018, airport authorities announced plans for a 6.71 million dollar facelift. The plan includes further improvements of the main runway and building a new ADA-compliant general aviation terminal. Once the new terminal is complete, the existing terminal built in 1970 will be demolished. Since 2009, the airport has hosted an annual airshow that typically runs Saturday-Sunday and is free to the public. The Anderson Regional Airshow attracts an estimated 50,000 visitors to the airport each year during the two-day event. Anderson Regional Airport covers and has two runways and two helipads:
Anderson County Airport, the first airport in the area, was founded in 1927. It was a grass field that was designated as an emergency landing field; eventually it was used to deliver air mail. Famous aviator Amelia Earhart visited the airport on November 14, 1931; she was greeted by over 1,000 residents while she toured the town and met with local civic leaders. The visit was credited with creating enthusiasm for a better airport. Within a year of her visit, civic leaders bought land 3 miles from downtown and plans were made for the new airport. Though Earhart was given credit for inspiring residents to build the new airport, she and her plane disappeared over the South Pacific two months before the airport opened in September 1937.
During World War II the airport was an auxiliary airfield for the United States Army Air Forces, supporting the combat flight training at Greenville Army Airbase. Control of the airport was returned to local authorities in the fall of 1945. The civilian pilot training for the Army Air Force was conducted at the Anderson Airport, and students from Clemson College participated in the flight training program. In the 1950s Eastern Airlines scheduled three or four daily departures. The airport was one of Eastern's smallest stations, but famed World War Ifighter ace and eventual CEO of Eastern Airlines, Eddie Rickenbacker, once made an unannounced stop. "Captain Eddie" inspected operations and visited briefly with employees; his visit that day was featured in Life magazine. Eastern stopped at the airport from 1947 until 1964; Southern Airways arrived in 1964 and left in 1974. The airport has been served briefly by various commuter airlines and air taxi service, including ImagineAir.
Accidents and incidents
On June 16, 2012 1:30 p.m. an experimental airplane crashed in some trees near the airport runway. The pilot and sole passenger were not injured.
On April 27, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. a Cirrus SR22 crashed on approach 600 yards of the runway, killing the pilot and injuring the passenger.
On December 9, 2004 at 10:20 a.m. a Diamond DA40 en route to Anderson Regional was diverted due to poor visibility. The airport's instrument landing system, which helps pilots land in low visibility, was turned off due to an extension on the main runway. The plane crashed en route to a neighboring airport, killing all three on board.
