Prescott Regional Airport, Ernest A. Love Field (IATA: PRC[2], ICAO: KPRC, FAA LID: PRC) is a public use airport 8 miles (7.0 nmi; 13 km) north of Prescott, in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States.[1] Love Field is used for general aviation and facilitates scheduled passenger airline service to Denver and Los Angeles.

Prescott Regional Airport
IATA: PRC ICAO: KPRC FAA LID: PRC
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	City of Prescott
Serves	Prescott, Arizona
Location	Prescott, Arizona
Elevation AMSL	5,045 ft / 1,538 m
Coordinates	34°39′16″N 112°25′11″W
Website	www.prcairport.com
Map
PRC Show map of Arizona PRC Show map of the United States
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 3R/21L 7,616 2,321 Asphalt 3L/21R 4,848 1,478 Asphalt 12/30 4,408 1,344 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Aircraft operations 232,592 Based aircraft 263
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Most traffic at PRC is training flights from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University but includes training flights from operations including Guidance Aviation and North-Aire.

Namesake

The airport is named for Ernest A. Love (1895–1918), First Lieutenant, United States Army Air Service. Love was born in New Mexico and raised in Prescott. He was a graduate of Prescott High School and studied mechanical engineering at Stanford. He served in World War I and was shot down near Verdun, France, on 16 September 1918, and he died of his wounds as a prisoner of war a few days later. Lieutenant Love is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[3] The hamlet of Love, Arizona, is also named for him.[4]

Facilities

Ernest A. Love Field covers 760 acres (310 ha) at an elevation of 5,045 ft (1,538 m). It has three asphalt runways:

• 3R/21L measuring 7,619 ft × 150 ft (2,322 m × 46 m)
• 3L/21R measuring 4,846 ft × 60 ft (1,477 m × 18 m)
• 12/30 measuring 4,408 ft × 75 ft (1,344 m × 23 m)[1]

Plans to extend Runway 3R/21L and Runway 3L/21R were mentioned in the latest master plan update in 2009. The extension onto Runway 3R/21L would be more than 3,300 feet and the extension onto Runway 3L/21R would be more than 1,300 feet.^{[citation needed]}

In the year ending March 31, 2011 the airport had 244,080 aircraft operations, average 668 per day: 98.2% general aviation, 1.6% air taxi, <1% military, and <1% airline. 232 aircraft were then based at this airport: 89% single-engine, 8% multi-engine, 1% helicopter, 1% jet, and <1% glider.[1]

Terminal

In 2019, the City of Prescott received a $10 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for construction of a new terminal building. The building will also be funded with $1 million from the state of Arizona and $3.5 million of local funds. The new building will have more space for passengers, security, and airline operations. The existing building is considered "antiquated and undersized." The new passenger terminal opened to the public in March 2021.[5]

Airline and destinations

Passenger

Destinations map
Prescott Denver Los Angeles Destinations from Ernest A. Love Field

Statistics

Enplanement totals

Carrier Shares

Top Domestic Destinations

Cargo

Historical airline service

The first airline flights at Prescott were TWA DC-3s in late 1947.

2008–2018

Great Lakes Airlines served the airport since 2008, when Mesa Airlines terminated their agreement. Although Great Lakes over the last few years^[when?] ran into staffing issues due to the nationwide pilot shortage, Prescott has always been one of their top destinations. In 2016, the company turned itself around and was able to pull out of its staffing problems by signing a contract with Frontier Airlines to employ their pilots after they have completed a required employment period with Great Lakes first. The company currently flies to Los Angeles and Phoenix; it cut back on the destinations it served so it could dramatically increase reliability and staffing abilities towards its profitable airports. Prescott in November received the first of several planned upgrades by the company.[9] Great Lakes increased its total round trip daily flights to/from Los Angeles from two flights a day to four. On December 17, 2016 part two of the upgrade plan took place, which included bringing in a larger aircraft, an Embraer EMB-120, which included 30 seats, restroom facilities and flight attendant service. The company has also leased a corporate maintenance hangar on the airfield and planned to employ a full-time aircraft mechanic to turn Prescott into a west coast maintenance hub. Finally, the airline resumed flying to Denver, CO twice per week with one stop in Farmington, New Mexico. In 2017, Great Lakes reverted to two flights per day to Los Angeles and two flights per week to Denver using Beech 1900D aircraft. On March 26, 2018, Great Lakes Airlines ceased operations, terminating all scheduled flights from Ernest A. Love Field.

2018–present

On July 17, 2018, United Airlines announced service from Ernest A. Love Field to Denver and Los Angeles with each running a daily flight, which began on August 29, 2018.[6] United Airlines service is operated by SkyWest Airlines dba United Express operating 50 seat Bombardier CRJ-200 jet aircraft.

Historical

The following is a list of all known air carriers that have served Prescott. Most of these airlines provided flights to Phoenix and Las Vegas.

• Arizona Airways 1946–1948
• Trans World Airlines (TWA) 1947–1949
• Frontier Airlines 1950–1964
• Bonanza Airlines 1949–1968
• Air West 1968–1970
• Hughes Air West 1970–1974
• Apache Airlines early 1970s
• Cochise Airlines 1974–1982
• Golden Pacific Airlines 1982–1989
• Sun West Airlines 1984–1985
• Mesa Airlines 1989–1992
• America West Express (Mesa Airlines) 1992–2005
• Great Lakes Airlines 2005–2007
• Alaska Airlines (Horizon Air) 2008–2010
• US Airways Express (Mesa Airlines) 2007–2008
• Great Lakes Airlines 2008–2018
• United Express (SkyWest Airlines) 2018–present

See also

• List of airports in Arizona

References

Other sources

External links

• Official website
• Ernest A. Love Field (PRC) at Arizona DOT airport directory
• Aerial image as of June 1992 from USGS The National Map
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective September 8, 2022
• FAA Terminal Procedures for PRC, effective September 8, 2022
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KPRC
  • ASN accident history for PRC
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KPRC
  • FAA current PRC delay information