Airport Bio

History
The airfield was constructed in 1942 by the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II to serve as an auxiliary training field for B-25 Bombers.  During WWII the airfield was known as Lincoln Auxiliary Field - Mather Flying School.  The original airport operations were conducted from the west side of the airport.  Remnants of old military barracks remain today.

In 1942 the airport consisted of four runways — three in a triangular arrangement and a fourth running through the center — each about 4,000 feet long by 300 feet wide. 

By the early 1970s, all but the center runway (now designated Runway 15-33) were closed and abandoned. In the early 1980’s, the City of Lincoln acquired additional property and Runway 15-33 was extended northward to its present length of 6,001 feet and width of 100 feet.  A full-length parallel taxiway (Taxiway A) east of the runway is connected by five perpendicular taxiways.

More History on the Airfield

The Airport Today
Lincoln Regional Airport is owned and operated by the City of Lincoln. The present day airport offices and a public pilots lounge are located at 1480 Flightline Drive.  The Lincoln Regional Airport is located on 775-acres two miles west of downtown Lincoln northwest of the intersection of Nicolaus Road and Aviation Boulevard.  The public entrance to the airfield is from Flightline Drive located west of Aviation Boulevard.

Lincoln Regional is poised for expansion and is a growth Airport including aviation, industrial and commercial development. 

There are currently 241 aircraft based at the Airport (Jan. 2009).  Adopted aviation forecasts indicate that the total number of aircraft to be based at Lincoln by the year 2010 is expected be 260.  Based on projected regional population and job growth by the year 2015 there will be 282 based aircraft at the Airport.

Annual aircraft operations, which include take-offs and landings, were 83,911 at the end of 2008.  Aircraft operations are forecasted to increase annually to 99,000 by the year 2015, and to 118,000 operations by 2023.

Lincoln Regional has land that will accommodate aviation, light-industrial and commercial development in the short and long-term complimenting the development and growth of similar uses surrounding the Airport.  The Airport, its development areas, and the surrounding development areas will be provided access by the Lincoln State Highway 65 Bypass under construction and scheduled for completion by 2011.