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Centennial Airport (KAPA) is a major general aviation reliever airport in the Denver Tech Center area south of downtown Denver, Colorado, and is one of the busiest GA fields in the United States. With three parallel and crossing hard-surfaced runways, a full-time FAA tower and an ILS approach, it offers a busy but well-equipped destination for simulator pilots flying business jets, piston singles or helicopters into the Denver metro area.
Centennial Airport, ICAO code KAPA, is a public-use general aviation airport owned and operated by the Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority, sitting in the Dove Valley area on the southern edge of the Denver metropolitan area near the Denver Tech Center business district. It acts as a reliever airport for Denver International Airport and hosts a wide mix of traffic, from flight training aircraft and helicopters through to corporate jets and air ambulance flights, with around 850 aircraft based on the field, including some 180 jets. For a simulator pilot it is an interesting destination thanks to its busy, closely spaced parallel runway layout and its round-the-clock tower and Customs operation.
Centennial Airport lies in the Denver metropolitan area, about 15 nautical miles southeast of downtown Denver and roughly 20 miles south-southwest of Denver International Airport, near the Denver Tech Center business district. The field spans both Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. It is served by a full-time FAA control tower and sits under the influence of Denver Approach/Departure control for arrivals and departures to and from the surrounding Denver airspace.
Centennial Airport has three physical hard-surfaced, lit runways. The main parallel pair comprises 17L/35R, at 9,997 feet, with 35R equipped with an instrument landing system, and 17R/35L, at 6,992 feet, both closely spaced alongside the longer pair. A third, shorter runway, 10/28, crosses the parallel pair, with the 10 threshold giving 4,393 feet and the 28 threshold giving 4,792 feet available. Field elevation is 5,827 feet.
Centennial Airport is served by a full-time FAA control tower, with Denver Tower on 118.9 MHz and Denver Ground on 121.8 MHz. Approach and departure control is provided by Denver Approach/Departure on 132.75 MHz. The airport ATIS broadcasts on 120.3 MHz, and clearance delivery is available. Denver Radio provides a flight service frequency on 122.2 MHz, and UNICOM is on 122.95 MHz; a further frequency of 128.6 MHz is also listed for the field. Runway 35R is equipped with an instrument landing system for precision approaches.
Centennial Airport opened on 12 May 1968 as Arapahoe County Airport and was renamed Centennial Airport on 13 July 1984, the new name marking Colorado's admission to the Union as the 38th state in 1876, the centennial year of the Declaration of Independence. The airport has grown to become one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country, recording 466,267 aircraft operations in its record year of 1998 and again topping general aviation traffic tables in 2023 with 360,725 operations. The field has seen serious incidents over the years, including the loss of a Cessna 500 Citation I cargo flight on an improper instrument approach to runway 34 in icing conditions on 19 November 1979, and a fatal Bell 206B helicopter accident on 2 July 1984.
Centennial Airport remains a major public-use general aviation airport, categorised by the FAA as a reliever airport for Denver International Airport, and one of the busiest general aviation fields in the world, averaging over 870 operations a day. It is home to more than 125 businesses, numerous flight schools, and around 850 based aircraft, including some 180 jets, and it provides 24-hour US Customs services for international arrivals as well as significant air ambulance and medevac traffic. The airport offers unleaded avgas, having been the first in Colorado to do so, alongside other fuel services, and the Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority administration office is open Monday to Friday from 08:30 to 16:30, closed at weekends and on holidays. The site also hosts the Wings Over the Rockies Exploration of Flight museum and other non-aeronautical amenities on airport property.
