Business View Magazine l October 2022

234 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 AT A GLANCE WATSONVILLE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT WHAT: A visionary general aviation airport WHERE: City of Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, California WEBSITE: www.cityofwatsonville.org/2322/Airport WATSONVILLE Municipal Airport T he City of Watsonville is ideally situated on the Central Coast of California in the scenic Monterey Bay area of Santa Cruz County. For business and recreation travelers and local residents, the Watsonville Municipal Airport is a gem of convenience and a great asset to spur economic development in the region. Rayvon Williams, Airport Director for the Watsonville Municipal Airport, shares, “This is a really popular location with Pebble Beach and whale watching from the Monterey Bay. It is quite the vacationland with a lot of variety that draws people to the area.” Watsonville Municipal is a general aviation airport that sits on 330 acres and has over 285 based aircraft. There are two runways – the longest, 02-20, being 4501 by 149 feet. The second crosswind runway, 09-27, is 3998 x 98 feet. The property also boasts 218 hangars with a waitlist of over 90 people. Watsonville Municipal sees somewhere in the vicinity of 55,000 operations a year. All told, this facility is a going –and growing – concern. The airport was in a different location before World War II, when it was used as a Naval Auxiliary Airfield – primarily for pilot training during war times. Afterwards, it was returned to the City of Watsonville for civilian use and almost immediately saw passenger service with Southwest Airlines. The airport has grown and evolved over SAFETY, SERVICE, AND SELF-SUSTAINABILITY