Houston Gulf Airport

Houston Gulf Airport (IATA: SPX, ICAO: KSPX, FAA LID: SPX) was a single-runway airport located in eastern League City, Texas, United States.^[2] Its FAA code was SPX^[3] and its IATA code was also SPX.^[4]

Houston Gulf Airport
IATA: none ICAO: KSPX
Summary
Airport type	Public
Serves	Houston, Texas
Location	League City, Texas
Elevation AMSL	21 ft / 6.4 m
Coordinates	29°30′30″N 095°03′05″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 13/31 4,999 1,524 Asphalt (Closed)
Statistics (2002)
Aircraft operations 66/day Based aircraft 80
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

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.^[3]

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.^[5] Salem bin Laden owned the airport for six years before his death in 1988.^[6] After Salem bin Laden died, the airport, now owned by his estate, was for sale.^[6][7]

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.^[8] The airport's land was sold and the land became a string of houses along Texas State Highway 96.^[9] The group of houses are part of a 2,000-house community called Tuscan Lakes.^[10]