Bremerton Executive Airport | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Port of Bremerton | ||||||||||
| Serves | Bremerton, Washington | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 444 ft / 135 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 47°29′25″N122°45′53″W / 47.49028°N 122.76472°W /47.49028; -122.76472 | ||||||||||
| Website | Port of Bremerton website | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  PWT Location in Washington Show map of Washington (state) PWT PWT (the United States) Show map of the United States | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Statistics (2019) | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Source:Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||||
Bremerton Executive Airport (IATA:PWT,ICAO:KPWT,FAALID:PWT) is eight miles southwest of downtownBremerton, inKitsap County, Washington.[1] It is owned by the Port of Bremerton.[1] TheExecutive Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015categorized it as ageneral aviation facility.[2]
It is the largest airport on theKitsap Peninsula with an all-weather, fully lit 6,000-foot runway.[3] It was known as Kitsap County Airport until July 1, 1983.[3]
In 1936, about 15 local residents founded an airport, then known as Fleet Field which later became Bremerton National Airport. They turned an old lakebed known as Bayes' Bog into a 600-foot-long, 15-foot-wide gravel landing strip.[4] During World War II, Kitsap County Airport was used by theUnited States Navy as an outer landing field forNAS Seattle.[5] Military use continued throughout theCold War and it would occasionally host temporary detachments of aircraft from the Navy.[6]
The taxiways and runways of the Kitsap County Airport hosted aNASCARGrand National (now Cup Series) event, on August 4, 1957, for the 1957 NASCAR season.[7]Parnelli Jones won in aOscar Maples Ford.[7]
The airport has a second runway which has been closed for some time and is currently used as a drag strip byBremerton Motorsports Park.[8] In 1954, Kitsap County Airport was the site for theSCCASeafair Nationals. This wasFerrari's debut on a Northwest track at a time when the company was just starting to dominate west coast sports car racing.[9]
In 2019, the airport was described as a potential candidate for expansion as part ofWashington State's Department of Transportation effort to expand commercial airport space in the Puget Sound region.[10] In July 2020, the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Committee (CACC) announced that they would submit a shortlist of expansion candidates within the year, and in December 2020, Bremerton National Airport was placed on the shortlist, along withArlington Municipal Airport,Paine Field,Sanderson Field,Tacoma Narrows Airport, andSouth Lewis County Airport.[11][12]
On April 29, 2021, the CACC released a white paper detailing the benefits of each site. While Bremerton National Airport was described as being able to "provide additional general aviation aircraft storage capacity and expand business aviation support", the CACC was concerned about the distance between the airport and major interstates, including the travel time between counties.[13]
The airport covers 1,729acres (700ha) at anelevation of 444 feet (135 m). Its onerunway, 2/20, is 6,000 by 150 feet (1,829 x 46 m) asphalt.[1]
In the year ending December 31, 2019, the airport had 66,000 aircraft operations, averaging 181 per day: 98%general aviation, 1% military, and <1%air taxi. 118 aircraft were then based at this airport: 105 single-engine, 6 multi-engine, 3 jet, 3helicopter, and 1 glider.[1]