The influx of traffic for the upcoming U.S. Open golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., will make Monterey Peninsula Airport unavailable for practice approaches from June 13 through 21, the FAA is notifying pilots.
Traffic arriving and departing the airport is expected to double during the tournament, and Monterey Tower will be unable to authorize practice approaches, the FAA said in a letter to airmen. In addition, there could be arrival delays, and VFR pilots may be held outside the Class C airspace depending on the volume of traffic the tower is handling.
“Monterey Tower is asking all pilots to be aware of this event and to please consider using other area airports if you are not regularly scheduled out of Monterey, not based at Monterey, or do not absolutely need to land/depart Monterey Airport between June 13 and June 21, 2010,” the letter states.
As the airport fills with aircraft, the letter says, it may be necessary to close Runway 28R/10L to park aircraft on the runway. This measure would be a last resort to accommodate aircraft if all other parking areas are in use.
