of 264 feet (80 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 18/36 with an asphalt surface measuring 8,002 by 150 feet (2,439 x 46 m). This runway is long enough to accommodate Boeing 757s and Boeing 767s used by college football teams visiting Mississippi State University and the Bulldogs home football games. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2011, the airport had 29,864 aircraft operations, an average of 81 per day: 50% general aviation, 41% military, and 9% air taxi. At that time there were 37 aircraft based at this airport: 68% single-engine, 16% multi-engine, 3% jet, and 14% helicopter. Because of the projected growth, in the years since 2003 the airport has spent significant resources improving and upgrading the infrastructure. In 2003 a $1.6 million air traffic control tower was opened to maintain the safety of the flying operation and is manned under the FAA's Contract Tower Program. The runway was repaved and strengthened to take commercial aircraft up to a Boeing 757. Two additional parking ramps were constructed and the two existing ramps were rehabilitated. The terminal has had minor renovations but a major expansion was completed in 2010. A runway expansion from 6,497' to 8,000' was completed in June 2011. The airport plans to expand the second floor waiting area and to install a jet bridge starting in Spring 2023. Airline and destination According to FlightAware, scheduled nonstop passenger service to Atlanta (ATL) is currently operated by Endeavor Air flying as the Delta Connection on behalf of Delta Air Lines with Canadair CRJ200 regional jets. Statistics Airline history Southern Airways was serving Columbus in 1952 with Douglas DC-3 aircraft operating six daily departures with three round trip services a day flying a routing of Atlanta - Gadsden, AL - Birmingham, AL - Tuscaloosa, AL - Columbus, MS - Tupelo, MS - Memphis. Southern would serve Columbus for many years and subsequently introduced Douglas DC-9-10 jet service at airport including five jet flights a day early in 1976 with direct one stop DC-9 service from Atlanta, Chicago O'Hare Airport, Memphis and Laurel/Hattiesburg in addition to DC-9 nonstops from Tuscaloosa and Meridian, MS. According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), at this same time in 1976 Southern was also operating flights into the airport with Martin 4-0-4 propliners with nonstop service from Memphis and Tupelo as well as direct one stop service from Atlanta while