Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Wausau Downtown Airport (KAUW) is a city-owned general aviation field on the northern edge of downtown Wausau, Wisconsin, offering two paved runways, GPS approaches and a seaplane landing area on the adjoining Wisconsin River. It has served the Wausau area since the late 1920s and today is home to a busy flight school and FBO, making it a convenient and scenic destination for visiting pilots.
Wausau Downtown Airport sits close to the heart of Wausau, Wisconsin, and is owned and operated by the City of Wausau. It handles general aviation traffic, business and charter aircraft, and seaplane operations, with a fixed-base operator on site supporting both based and visiting aircraft. The airport's setting beside the Wisconsin River and Lake Wausau, with Rib Mountain rising nearby, makes it one of the more visually distinctive general aviation fields in the state and a popular stop for pilots exploring north-central Wisconsin.
The airport lies within the Wausau area of Marathon County, Wisconsin, close to downtown and just a short distance from the Wisconsin River and Lake Wausau. It is an uncontrolled field for ATC purposes, with Minneapolis Center providing en-route radar service in the area; there is no local control tower. Central Wisconsin Airport, the region's commercial airport since 1969, lies nearby and handles the scheduled traffic that once used Wausau Downtown.
The field has two paved, lit hard-surface runways. The primary runway, 13/31, is 5,193 feet long, while the secondary crosswind runway, 05/23, is 3,037 feet long. Both are asphalt and equipped with lighting for night operations.
Pilots can obtain automated weather from the ASOS on 125.925 MHz. Traffic advisories and self-announced calls are made on the CTAF/UNICOM frequency of 122.7 MHz. Minneapolis Center provides en-route control on 124.4 MHz, and Green Bay Radio can be reached on 122.4 MHz for flight service. The field has GPS-based instrument approach procedures, and a Wausau NDB (identifier FZK) on 243 kHz is located on the airport for non-precision navigation.
Wausau Downtown is an uncontrolled airport, so arriving and departing traffic self-announces on the CTAF/UNICOM frequency of 122.7 MHz. No published circuit heights or specific noise-abatement procedures are given, so pilots should follow standard traffic-pattern practice for the runway in use and remain alert for other general aviation, seaplane and occasional business jet traffic sharing the field.
The Wisconsin River and Lake Wausau run alongside the airport and are useful for orientation on approach, while Rib Mountain, a prominent local landmark, rises to the south-west of the field. The airport's location directly adjacent to downtown Wausau makes the city itself a clear visual cue when inbound from any direction.
Wausau's airport was founded in 1927 and for several decades handled scheduled commercial airline flights into the city. That role ended in 1969 when Central Wisconsin Airport opened nearby to take over commercial services, after which Wausau Downtown settled into its present role as the city's general aviation field.
The airport remains an active general aviation base, supporting flight training, aircraft rental and fuel services through its resident fixed-base operator, Wausau Flying Service, alongside other local flight training operations. Its two paved runways, GPS approaches and seaplane landing area allow it to accommodate everything from light training aircraft to corporate jets and floatplanes. As of 2024 it had 75 based aircraft and recorded around 36,400 annual operations, the great majority general aviation.
