| Location |
| 100 Aviation Way, Watsonville, CA 95076-2048 |
| Hours |
| 24 hours. |
| Phone |
| (831) 728-6075 |
| Website |
| http://www.watsonvilleairport.com |
| Owner(s) |
| City of Watsonville. |
| Established |
| 1943. |
FAA Identifier: WVI
Watsonville Municipal Airport is the only public-use, general aviation airport in Santa Cruz County. It is located in the City of Watsonville. It's also the home of the annual Watsonville Fly-In & Air Show.
Highway 1 runs by the south end of the airport. To reach the terminal area from Highway 1, take the Airport Boulevard (Exit 427). Travel about a ½ mile on Airport Boulevard, then turn left onto Aviation Way.
For the airport's navigational information: KWVI - AirNav.com
The Airport also the location for the animal shelter, a mulching operation, police pistol range, water storage tank and nearby is a wireless cell tower. The airport was chosen as the location because of zoning issues.
The Airport is home to the largest known population of Santa Cruz Tarweed (Holocarpha macradenia) and several colonies of native prairie grass. The tarweed (or tarplant as often called) is on the California's Endangered Species list and is a candidate for Federal listing.
History
The current airport in Watsonville. In 1939 the Civil Aeronautics Administration decided Santa Cruz County needed an airport. The CAA brought to the City of Santa Cruz an offer to build an airport, if the city would buy the land. One condition was an agreement that accepting CAA funding, the land would always be used for an airport. The city of Santa Cruz voted against the offer. The CAA then made the offer to the city of Watsonville which accepted.
Across the Pajaro River the first airport near Watsonville was started in 1931 in Monterey County. During World War II it was used by the Navy as a blimp landing area. When the base closed in 1945 it was returned to private ownership. It closed in 1947 and the land was sold for use as a cattle feed lot.
Flights
GS Air (Grand Sierra Resort) is operating chartered flights on a Dornier 328 Jet, from Watsonville to Reno, Nevada. For more information, you can go to their website http://www.gsaircharter.com, call: (888) 736-6472, or e-mail: [email protected]. Or you can contact Daniel Bloecher locally at (831) 840-8120, [email protected].
