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Houston Gulf Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
Serves Houston, Texas
Location League City, Texas
Elevation  AMSL21 ft / 6.4 m
Coordinates 29°30′30″N 095°03′05″W / 29.50833°N 95.05139°W / 29.50833; -95.05139
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
13/31 4,999 1,524 Asphalt (Closed)
Statistics (2002)
Aircraft operations66/day
Based aircraft80

Houston Gulf Airport ( IATA: SPX, ICAO: KSPX, FAA LID: SPX) was a single-runway airport located in eastern League City, Texas, United States. [2] Its FAA code was SPX [3] and its IATA code was also SPX. [4]

History

The airport opened in 1967 as the Spaceland Airport, a name related to the Johnson Space Center, located about 4 miles north of the airport. [3]

A businessperson named James R. Bath purchased the airport on behalf of Salem bin Laden in 1977. Bath received a 5 percent interest in the companies that own and operate the airport. [5] Salem bin Laden owned the airport for six years before his death in 1988. [6] After Salem bin Laden died, the airport, now owned by his estate, was for sale. [6] [7]

The airport was scheduled to close on April 1, 2002. A coalition of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and some local pilots created a campaign asking for the City of League City to acquire the airport from its owner. [8] The airport's land was sold and the land became a string of houses along Texas State Highway 96. [9] The group of houses are part of a 2,000-house community called Tuscan Lakes. [10]

References

  1. ^ "KSPX - Houston Gulf Airport". Federal Aviation Administration, via AirNav.com. 2002-02-21. Archived from the original on 2002-03-08.
  2. ^ Ward, Mike. " Bin Laden relatives have ties to Texas." Austin American-Statesman. November 9, 2001.
  3. ^ a b "Spaceland Airport / Houston Gulf Airport (SPX), League City, TX". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  4. ^ "SPX - Houston-Spaceland Airport, Texas". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  5. ^ Thompson, Alastair. " George W. Bush And Harken Oil - Recovered History." Scoop. Thursday 7 March 2002.
  6. ^ a b " Ampersand!." The Signal & Urbanite. October 30, 2001. News Page Three.
  7. ^ Romei, Stephen. "Bin Laden family firm feels heat - WAR ON TERROR." The Weekend Australian. Saturday September 29, 2001.
  8. ^ " AOPA works to save Houston Gulf Airport." Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Retrieved on November 19, 2008.
  9. ^ Rendon, Ruth. " Fees could slow growth / Developers expected to balk at League City plan." Houston Chronicle. Sunday November 2, 2003. A29 MetFront.
  10. ^ Bivins, Ralph. " Galveston County will get new community." Houston Chronicle. Sunday January 18, 2004. Business 6.

External links