Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Central Colorado Regional Airport (KAEJ) is a high-altitude general aviation field serving Buena Vista, Colorado, sitting close to 8,000 feet above sea level in the Upper Arkansas Valley. Owned by the Town of Buena Vista, it offers a single long, lit runway and acts as a busy reliever for resort airports such as Aspen, Vail, Gunnison and Rifle, while also supporting search and rescue, air ambulance and military training operations.
Central Colorado Regional Airport is a public-use general aviation airport owned and operated by the Town of Buena Vista, Colorado. It is best known among pilots for its considerable elevation and single long runway, which make it a useful base for high-altitude flying, mountain search and rescue, air medical transport, and testing work, as well as a practical reliever for busier resort airports elsewhere in the Colorado high country.
The airport lies a short distance south of the town of Buena Vista, in Chaffee County, Colorado, within the Upper Arkansas Valley. It is a non-towered field with no operating control tower, and traffic is coordinated by pilots themselves rather than by air traffic control on site.
The airport has one physical runway, 15/33, with a hard surface measuring 8,261 feet in length. The runway is lit for night operations.
Pilots should monitor the CTAF/UNICOM frequency of 122.8 MHz for airport traffic, and an AWOS-3 automated weather observing station broadcasts on 132.925 MHz. Denver Center can be reached on 119.85 MHz for the surrounding airspace. The airport has no instrument landing system and no published instrument approach navaids on site.
As a non-towered airport, Central Colorado Regional relies on pilots self-announcing their position and intentions on the CTAF/UNICOM frequency of 122.8 MHz throughout the approach, circuit and departure phases, rather than being sequenced by a controller.
The town of Buena Vista lies immediately to the north of the airport, providing an obvious visual landmark for pilots approaching from that direction.
Central Colorado Regional Airport opened on 5 January 1964 and has long been owned by the Town of Buena Vista. Over the decades it has built up a role well beyond routine general aviation traffic, providing operational support for air medical and emergency transport, search and rescue efforts, military aviation training, uncrewed aircraft system work associated with Mountain West UAS, and as an active base for high-altitude helicopter testing teams.
Today the airport covers around 185 to 235 acres and features a full parallel taxiway alongside its single runway. Facilities include a terminal with a pilot lounge offering shower facilities and an adjacent flight planning room overlooking the main hangar, with free Wi-Fi available across the airport site. It continues to serve as a general aviation reliever for busier resort airports in the region and supports a range of specialised flying activity, including high-altitude testing and emergency response operations.