Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport

Brownsville was once the main terminal for air service between the United States and Mexico. In 1929, Pan American World Airways acquired a controlling stake in Mexicana de Aviación and began Ford Trimotor service between Brownsville and Mexico City, eventually extended to the Yucatan Peninsula to connect with Pan Am's Caribbean route network. On March 9, Charles Lindbergh inaugurated this service, landing at BRO after a five-hour, 38-minute flight from Mexico City. An event was held on site in Lindbergh's honor, with a crowd of over 20,000 greeting him upon his arrival. Among the attendees was Amelia Earhart, for whom the main street in front of the Airport is named. Brownsville became an early center for technical development in instrument navigation ("blind flying") due to the bad weather conditions that pilots encountered in the mountains over Mexico. In 1931, American Airways was flying a multi-stop route Brownsville to Dallas, connecting to Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. Braniff Airways began service in 1934, and Eastern Air Lines arrived in 1939. In the 1960s, the 16th weather radar system in the country was installed at BRO. In 1982, a new ATC tower was built. In 1983, the airport was renamed the Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport. A new modern and more spacious terminal was built in 2019-2020, replacing the old, crowded terminal. In 2021, in part as a response to expanding operations by SpaceX in relation to its South Texas launch site, a new 91,000 square foot terminal was opened to accommodate an increase in tourism and migration. A further $1.6 million was awarded to the city of Brownsville by the Federal Aviation Administration to enhance the airport's jet bridges. Since March 2022, one of Starship SN8's flaps has been on public display at Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport. A new long term parking lot was completed in 2024. ==Brownsville Army Airfield==

During World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces, although the Air Corps had signed a contract with Pan American Airways in 1940 for the training of aircraft mechanics at the airport. Shortly after the Pearl Harbor Attack on December 7, 1941, both Army and Navy observation aircraft began operations from the airport flying antisubmarine missions over the Gulf of Mexico. For the first year of the United States' involvement in combat of the war, Pan American continued to operate the airport, providing training to Ferrying Command pilots and ground mechanics assigned to the 18th Transport Transition Training Detachment. With the realignment of Ferrying Command to Air Transport Command on July 1, 1942, plans were made by the Army to assume jurisdiction of the airport. On July 28, 1943, the USAAF 568th AAF Base Unit, Air Transport Command was assigned to the newly designated Brownsville Army Airfield. The mission of the 4th Fighter Operational Training Unit at the airfield was the training of pilots to ferry pursuit planes to the various theaters of war. Training was carried out by AAF instructor pilots, however Pan American Airways retained operations at the airfield flying larger 2 and 4 engine transports to the airport as an overhaul facility. In May 1944, a new mission was developed to train multi-engined pilots at the base. The school began operations in June, and the pilots began to ferry large numbers of aircraft to Panama for subsequent shipment by sealift to Australia. Achievements of note during World War II at Brownsville AAF were: • Civilian Pilot Training program initiated to train military and commercial pilots. • The first American jet engine flight was tested at Brownsville Army Air Field. • B-29 bombers were renovated on the site. • The airport had one of the largest overhaul facilities in the country. By the end of the war Pan American had overhauled nearly 6,000 engines. With the end of the Pacific War in August 1945, operations at Brownsville AAF were dramatically reduced. Flight operations continued at a reduced level for the balance of 1945, however in early January the base was declared surplus and was inactivated on March 5, 1946, and returned to full civilian control. ==Facilities==

The Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport covers at an elevation of . It has two asphalt runways: 13/31 is ; 17/35 is That re-opening never happened and the company no longer exists. ==Airlines and destinations==

arriving at the Gate 2 jetway Passenger American Eagle operates Bombardier CRJ-900 and Embraer E-Jet family regional jets on their route to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), with United Express operating Embraer ERJ-175 and Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets on their route to Houston (IAH). American Eagle and United Express services are operated via code share agreements with SkyWest Airlines, Mesa Airlines, Envoy Air, and CommuteAir. The third passenger airline at the airport, Aerus, uses the Cessna Grand Caravan with daily service to Monterrey. Cargo The Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport handles the least cargo in the RGV, behind Valley International Airport and the McAllen Miller International Airport. There are no current cargo carriers serving BRO, but in summer 2024, cargo activity was boosted after carriers like IFL Group and USA Jet Airlines occasionally flew into BRO. Pan American Airways and World-Wide Consolidated Logistics, Inc. were to open cargo service to Latin America in 2011. A TSA Certified Cargo Screening Facility was established by World-Wide Consolidated Logistics, Inc. to facility the screening of domestic and international cargo to and from the United States with the intent of Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport being the "Gateway to Latin America" in 2011 and the "Gateway to Africa" (via the Southern Route) in 2012. Those plans never came to fruition because the entity's (PAAWWCL) owner ran into legal trouble, preventing the airline from initiating any new services. ==Historical airline service==

Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) began serving Brownsville in 1929, flying to Mexico City via Tampico. In 1950, Pan Am Douglas DC-4s flew Brownsville to Mexico City via Tampico; in 1953-54 Pan Am's route was extended north to Houston. in 1934 American Airways became American Airlines and quit flying to south Texas. Braniff International Airways and Eastern Air Lines served Brownsville for many years. In 1935, Braniff flew Lockheed Model 10 Electras Brownsville-Corpus Christi-San Antonio-Austin-Waco-Fort Worth-Dallas. Trans-Texas Airways (TTa) also served Brownsville; in 1952 TTa Douglas DC-3s flew Brownsville-Harlingen-McAllen-Alice-Corpus Christi-Beeville-Victoria-Houston. In fall 1979, Braniff was operating three daily nonstop Boeing 727s to Dallas/Ft. Worth and one-stop to New York City via John F. Kennedy International Airport and one-stop to Chicago O'Hare Airport and Minneapolis/St. Paul. In spring 1995, Continental Airlines and Continental Express together had five nonstops a day to Houston Intercontinental Airport. Avelo Airlines started service to Brownsville on May 17, 2023 with non-stop flights to Burbank and Orlando. In September 2023, they expanded their service with flights to Las Vegas, but that service was terminated after only a couple months. The Burbank and Orlando routes stayed for eight more months before departing BRO in August 2024. All three routes were flown on Wednesday and Saturday seasonally. ==See also==