View source for Sedona Airport

{{Short description|Airport in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox airport
| name                = Sedona Airport
| image               = Sedona airport.jpg
| IATA                = SDX<!--not SEZ-->
| ICAO                = KSEZ
| FAA                 = SEZ
| type                = Public
| owner               = [[Yavapai County, Arizona|Yavapai County]]
| operator            = 
| city-served         = 
| location            = [[Sedona, Arizona]]
| elevation-f         = 4,830
| elevation-m         = 1,472
| coordinates         = {{coord|34|51|00|N|111|47|24|W|type:airport|display=inline,title}}
| website             = {{URL|www.sedonaairport.org}}
| pushpin_map         = USA Arizona#USA
| pushpin_map_caption = 
| pushpin_label       = '''SDX'''/KSEZ/'''SEZ'''
| pushpin_label_position = right
| r1-number           = 3/21
| r1-length-f         = 5,132
| r1-length-m         = 1,564
| r1-surface          = [[Asphalt concrete|Asphalt]]
| h1-number           = H1
| h1-length-f         = 50
| h1-length-m         = 15
| h1-surface          = [[Concrete]]
| stat-year           = 2022
| stat1-header        = Aircraft operations (year ending 5/11/2022)
| stat1-data          = 35,000
| stat2-header        = Based aircraft
| stat2-data          = 63
| footnotes           = Source: [[Federal Aviation Administration]]<ref name=FAA>{{FAA-airport|ID=SEZ|use=PU|own=PU|site=00788.3*A}}, effective 2023-09-07</ref>
| caption             = Looking north-west
| opened              = {{start date and age|1955|p=yes}}
}}

'''Sedona Airport''' {{airport codes|SDX|KSEZ|SEZ}} is a [[non-towered airport]] located {{convert|2|mi|nmi km|lk=on}} southwest of the [[central business district]] of [[Sedona, Arizona|Sedona]], [[Arizona]], United States. The airport covers {{convert|220|acre|ha|lk=on}} and has one [[runway]] (numbered 3 and 21) and one [[helipad]].<ref name="FAA" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=AirNav: KSEZ - Sedona Airport |url=https://www.airnav.com/airport/KSEZ |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=www.airnav.com}}</ref>

Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter [[location identifier]] for the [[Federal Aviation Administration|FAA]] and [[International Air Transport Association|IATA]], Sedona Airport is assigned '''SEZ''' by the FAA and '''SDX''' by the IATA<ref>[http://gc.kls2.com/airport/SDX Great Circle Mapper: SDX / KSEZ - Sedona, Arizona]</ref> (which assigned '''SEZ''' to [[Seychelles International Airport]] in [[Mahé, Seychelles|Mahé]], [[Seychelles]]<ref>[http://gc.kls2.com/airport/SEZ Great Circle Mapper: SEZ / FSIA - Mahé, Seychelles (Seychelles International Airport)]</ref>).

The airport is located on top of a [[mesa]] overlooking a major portion of the city; it has been termed a [[tabletop runway]].

== History ==
[[Image:SedonaAirport.JPG|thumb|left|500px|Sedona Airport from the south, showing its location atop a mesa]]
The airport was inaugurated in 1955. At that time it had no paved runway, and animals such as [[coyote]]s could be seen walking around the air-strip. This proved dangerous to pilots arriving at [[Sedona, Arizona|Sedona]]. By 1957, a small, paved runway had been built.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sedonaairport.org/2016/09/the-history-of-sedona-airport/ |title=The History of Sedona Airport – Sedona Airport |website=sedonaairport.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517101058/http://sedonaairport.org/2016/09/the-history-of-sedona-airport |archive-date=2017-05-17}} </ref>

By 1990, the airport's runway had been improved and it had begun to receive service from a local scheduled airline. Air Sedona, founded by Jack Seeley in 1981, served Sedona from such places as [[Sky Harbor International Airport]] in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]], the nearby [[Grand Canyon]] airport and others until 1995.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.redrockreview.com/Sep01/7story.html |title=Sedona - The Red Rock Review |website=www.redrockreview.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011218175749/http://redrockreview.com/Sep01/7story.html |archive-date=2001-12-18}} </ref> Sedona's airport is not able to accommodate [[Jet aircraft|commercial jets]] of a size of a [[Boeing 737]] or larger.

At one point, the airport was served by [[Desert Pacific Airlines]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.departedflights.com/NP102979.html|title = Desert Pacific Airlines October 29, 1979 Route Map}}</ref>

[[Scenic Airlines]] discontinued service at Sedona in April 1997.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1997/Jul-19-Sat-1997/photos/tapia-romero.html
| title = Inside business: Scenic Airlines to leave Sedona
| publisher = Las Vegas Review-Journal
| date = 1997-04-07
}}</ref>

== Accidents and incidents ==
*On April 13, 2003, a [[Beechcraft Bonanza#Model 36 Bonanza|Beechcraft Bonanza]] carrying three people collided with terrain after striking the fence to the southwest of runway 21. The flight instructor, student, and passenger were all fatally injured in the crash.<ref>{{cite web |title=Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident Final Report |url=https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20030418X00530&AKey=1&RType=HTML&IType=FA |website=National Transportation Safety Board |accessdate=24 July 2019}}</ref>
*Two-time [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] distance runner [[Pat Porter]], his 15-year-old son Connor, and a friend of his son, 14-year-old Connor Mantsch, died when their airplane, a [[Beechcraft Duke]] piloted by Porter, crashed after takeoff from the airport, on July 26, 2012.<ref name="CBS 5 Arizona">{{cite web|url=http://www.kpho.com/story/19122087/3-dead-in-sedona-airport-plane-crash|title=3 Dead In Sedona Airport Plane Crash|publisher=CBS 5 Arizona|date=2012-07-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2012/07/3-killed-when-plane-crashes-bursts-into.html|title = Beech BE60 Duke, N880LY: Fatal accident occurred July 26, 2012 in Sedona, Arizona}}</ref>
*On April 25, 2021,  a [[Cessna 182 Skylane]] crashed, resulting in two people being injured.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/two-people-taken-to-hospital-after-small-plane-crashes-at-sedona-airport/ar-BB1g2t5D|title = Two people taken to hospital after small plane crashes at Sedona Airport|website = [[MSN]]}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of airports in Arizona]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Sedona Airport}}
* [http://sedonaairport.org Sedona Airport], official web site
* [http://www.azdot.gov/MPD/Airport_Development/airports/airports_list.asp?FAA=SEZ Sedona Airport (SEZ)] at [[Arizona DOT]] airport directory
* {{cite web|url= http://www.azdot.gov/aviation/library/MP_PDF/SEZ_MP_02.pdf |title=Sedona Airport Master Plan: 1997–2017 }}&nbsp;{{small|(2.61&nbsp;[[Mebibyte|MiB]])}}
* [http://www.opennav.com/airport/KSEZ openNav: SDX / KSEZ charts]
{{US-airport-minor|SEZ|SDX}}
{{Sedona, Arizona}}

[[Category:Sedona, Arizona]]
[[Category:Airports in Yavapai County, Arizona]]