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The airport as an instrumentality of air transport services performs a function of substantial economic importance to the community and country it serves. It provides the facility that gives business and industrial communities accees to a national and international air transport network that links cities and nations together. The economic impact of a major airport, both on neighboring real estate values and on the economy of the communities it serves, is quite substantial. An active commercial airport truly becomes a center of economic gravity within its market area.

The development of the first successful scheduled system of STOL operations at a major United States commercial airport has been undertaken at Houston Intercontinental Airport. The STOL system was established to demonstrate the capability of STOL aircraft to operate safely and efficiently in airspace over a major commercial airport simultaneously with high-density scheduled airline operations. The demonstration project included the development of new and experimental runway lighting and loading systems by the Federal Aviation Administration. It encouraged the implementation of new air traffic control procedures that have proved acceptable to the Federal Aviation Administration and to the airline pilots association. This paper describes the development of the system and gives pertinent details of its operation.