Venice
Municipal Airport (VNC) was built in the early 1940s by the United States
government to serve as a flight training facility during World War II.
At the end of the war, the airport was given to the City of Venice with
the stipulation that if it were not used as an airport it would revert
back to the U.S. government.
Today
it is a general aviation facility located 1.7 miles south of the downtown
area, along the Gulf of Mexico shoreline, on approximately 835 acres.
It has two 5,000-foot runways which intersect each other. They are both
150 feet wide, have medium intensity runway lighting (MIRL), runway end
identifier lights (REILS) and precision approach path indicators (PAPI).
VNC has an automated weather observing system (AWOS).
According to the current airport master plan approved in 2000, there are approximately 164,495 take-offs and landings made at VNC yearly. These figures are currently being reviewed by the Mayor and City Council and will be updated as information becomes available.
Although the city
leases some hangar and tie-down space on an annual basis, the Fixed Base Operators (FBOs) coordinate
parking for visiting aircraft.
It is operated solely
from the airport enterprise fund and receives no money from the city's
general fund. Money for the enterprise fund comes from the airport's land
leases.
There are about 234
aircraft based at VNC. About 80 aircraft owners are on a waiting list
for hangar space.
The current master plan indicates the airport contributes about $22 million in direct economic activity to the Venice area. Those figures are derived from aviation and non-aviation businesses operating and people employed on airport property, commerce that comes from users of the airport including fly-in visitors, and other considerations. These figures will be recalculated during the current master plan updating in progress.
The airport manager
is Fred Watts, e-mail: fwatts@ci.venice.fl.us.
To contact the airport
administration offices, call (941) 486-2711.
