Venango Regional Airport , also known as Chess Lamberton Field, is a public airport in western Pennsylvania, southwest of Franklin and about southwest of Oil City. Both cities are in Venango County, which operates the airport. The airport had limited airline service, which was subsidized by the Essential Air Service program until October 2019. Per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 681 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 1,583 enplanements in 2009, and 1,380 in 2010. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility (the commercial service category requires at least 2,500 enplanements per year). History Aviation in Franklin area originated in 1929 when two local businessmen, Wayne W. Bleakley and Joseph McElhinney, Jr. became interested in aviation and went on to construct the first airport in what was then Sugarcreek Township. The airport was supported by local businessmen who formed a corporation some time later, under their stewardship the airport continued in existence until its abandonment in 1938. Thereafter, local aviators flew from the Splane Memorial Airport in Oil City from 1941 until 1950. Construction of Chess Lamberton Airport as it was originally known, began in 1950. The airport was named after the grandson of Judge Robert Lamberton of Franklin, Pa., founder of the first bank in Venango County and later reformed as The Lamberton Savings Bank in 1887. Facilities and aircraft Venango Regional Airport covers an area of 420 acres (170 ha) at an elevation of 1,540 feet (469 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways with asphalt surfaces: 3/21 is 5,201 by 150 feet (1,585 x 46 m) and 12/30 is 3,592 by 100 feet (1,095 x 30 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2011, the airport had 14,826 aircraft operations, an average of 40 per day: 83.5% general aviation, 16.3% air taxi, and 0.2% military. At that time there were 40 aircraft based at this airport: 82.5% single-engine, 7.5% ultralight, 5% multi-engine, 2.5% jet, and 2.5% helicopter. Airline and destination No scheduled airline service at this time. Statistics References Other sources Essential Air Service documents (Docket OST-1997-2523) from the U.S. Department of Transportation: Order 2003-5-24 (May 22, 2003): establishes a final rate for the essential air service operated by Air Midwest, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express at Franklin/Oil City, Pennsylvania, for the period from October 1, 2001,