The first commercial aircraft I've seen at Hickory Regional Airport since 2021 and the first commercial aircraft I've actually seen in action at HKY!
This Sun Country Airlines B737-800 (registered N843SY) was chartered by the South Alabama Jaguars College Football Team on September 18, 2024 to fly from Mobile, Alabama to Hickory, North Carolina to play against Appalachian State on September 19th! South Alabama went on to beat App State 48 to 14 and flew back to Mobile the same night!
As I mentioned in the video, the hangar that is seen under construction in the background of the airport next to the decommissioned runway 19/1, was sadly destroyed just 9 days days after this video was taken when Hurricane Helene tore through the Carolinas on September 27. Fortunately the hangar wasn't completed and no aircraft were stored in the hangar when the storm hit and no one was inside when it collapsed. The hangar was planned to open this Winter but will now be delayed another year to rebuild.
Flights like this for football charters are the only passenger flight service on a large commercial aircraft that fly into Hickory Regional. Usually Sun Country and Allegiant are the airlines to operate these charter flights and are usually the only commercial aircraft that fly to HKY but every so often a cargo DC-9 makes a surprise visit into the airport which is the only other kind of commercial aircraft that flies into HKY.
Hopefully flights like this become a bit more common in the future and hopefully this wasn’t my last time seeing a large commercial aircraft fly into Hickory Regional this year! I'm still waiting to see a DC-9 in action at HKY and what makes this particular day special was the fact that the commercial aircraft usually fly in at night rather than during the day, so this was an amazing opportunity to see!
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Although Hickory Regional doesn’t have active commercial flights and is a regional airport, it is one of the best airports in North Carolina for spotting when something cool does fly in and for watching the sunset at the airport! As well as housing the Hickory Aviation Museum, HKY is one of the only Aviation Museums in the Carolinas with a wide variety of military aircraft! So if you’re ever in the Western Carolina area, be sure to make a stop to Hickory Reginal Airport!
#planespotting #hickory #airport #suncountry #boeing #boeing737 #737 #b737800
0:00 Landing + Taxi-in
2:06 Taxi-in + Parking
6:15 Passengers Deplaning + Charter Busses Arrive
11:14 Charter Busses Leave
12:04 Evening/ Sunset Views of the 737