Sussex Airport (New Jersey)


Sussex Airport is a mile southwest of Sussex in Wantage Township, Sussex County, New Jersey. It is just outside Sussex Borough. The public-use airport is privately owned by Sussex Aviation LLC which purchased it in 2015.
The airport used to host the Sussex Airshow but the previous owner had stopped holding the shows while he tried to sell the airport. The township of Wantage was then studying the feasibility of purchasing the airport.
Most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, but this airport is FWN to the FAA and has no IATA code.

Facilities

Sussex Airport covers at an elevation of 421 feet. Its one runway, 3/21, is 3,499 by 75 feet. In the year ending June 30, 2018 the airport had 21,160 general aviation aircraft operations, average 58 per day. 73 aircraft were then based at the airport: 86% single-engine, 10% multi-engine, and 4% ultra-light.
The airport does not have air traffic control, instead using UNICOM where pilots talk on common radio frequencies to coordinate runway and taxiway use.

Runway information

In 2009, the airport's former owner, Paul Styger, pleaded guilty to federal charges of embezzlement. This stemmed from his misuse of $378,000 of grant money provided for airport improvements. He faced up to two years in prison. He was eventually convicted, and was ordered to repay the money and was put on probation without getting any prison sentence. Wantage Township officials admittedly knew that Styger was under investigation for embezzlement, but were asked to keep silent by state and federal agencies in an attempt to preserve the integrity of the investigation.