Houston Gulf Airport
Encyclopedia
Houston Gulf Airport was a single-runway airport located in eastern League City
, Texas
, United States
. Its FAA code was SPX and its IATA code was also SPX.
A businessperson named James R. Bath
purchased the airport on behalf of Salem bin Laden
in 1977. Bath received a 5 percent interest in the companies that own and operate the airport. Salem bin Laden owned the airport for six years before his death in 1988. After Salem bin Laden died the airport, now owned by his estate, was for sale.
The airport was scheduled to close on April 1, 2002. A coalition of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
and some local pilots created a campaign asking for the City of League City to acquire the airport from its owner. The airport's land was sold and the land became a string of houses along Texas State Highway 96. The group of houses are part of a 2,000-house community called Tuscan Lakes.
League City, Texas
League City is a city in Galveston County and Harris County in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 45,444; in the 2006 census estimate, the population was listed as 67,200. The 2010 Census places the population of League City...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Its FAA code was SPX and its IATA code was also SPX.
History
The airport opened in 1967 as the Spaceland Airport, a name related to the Johnson Space Center, located about 4 miles north of the airport.A businessperson named James R. Bath
James R. Bath
James Reynolds Bath is a former director of Bank of Credit and Commerce International , and also former part owner of Arbusto Energy with George W. Bush, with whom Bath served as a member of the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War...
purchased the airport on behalf of Salem bin Laden
Salem bin Laden
Salem bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian investor and businessman.-Life:Considered the eldest son of Mohammed bin Laden, the founder of Saudi Binladin Group and a half-brother and cousin of the infamous terrorist...
in 1977. Bath received a 5 percent interest in the companies that own and operate the airport. Salem bin Laden owned the airport for six years before his death in 1988. After Salem bin Laden died the airport, now owned by his estate, was for sale.
The airport was scheduled to close on April 1, 2002. A coalition of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is a Frederick, Maryland-based non-profit political organization. Incorporated on 15 May 1939, AOPA's membership consists mainly of general aviation pilots in the United States...
and some local pilots created a campaign asking for the City of League City to acquire the airport from its owner. The airport's land was sold and the land became a string of houses along Texas State Highway 96. The group of houses are part of a 2,000-house community called Tuscan Lakes.
External links
- Aerial photo as of 15 January 1995 from USGS The National Map