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Mercer County Airport (KBLF) is a general aviation field set in the Appalachian Mountains of southern West Virginia, between the towns of Bluefield and Princeton. It offers a single lit, hard-surfaced runway with an ILS approach, and remains a busy hub for corporate, medical and utility flying in the region.
Mercer County Airport is a general aviation facility located between Princeton and Bluefield in the Appalachian Mountains of southern West Virginia. It is one of seventeen GA airports in West Virginia's aviation system and today supports corporate and business flying, medical transport and evacuation flights, and law enforcement operations. The field is also home to an FAA Part 133 helicopter operation supporting powerline construction and right-of-way work, giving the airport a distinctly working character alongside its general aviation traffic.
The airport lies in Mercer County, close to the communities of Bluefield, Princeton, Oakvale and Bramwell in West Virginia, and Pocahontas, Virginia, in the scenic Appalachian Mountains. Traffic in the surrounding airspace is worked by Indianapolis Center.
Mercer County Airport has a single physical runway, 05/23, with a hard surface and runway lighting. Runway 05 is 4,737 feet long and Runway 23 is 4,817 feet long; Runway 23 is equipped with an ILS approach. Field elevation is 2,851 feet.
The airport broadcasts weather via ASOS on 132.725 MHz. Indianapolis Center provides radar service on 126.575 MHz. The common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) is 122.9 MHz, and Elkins Radio can be reached on 122.2 MHz. An ILS approach is available to Runway 23.
Mercer County Airport opened in 1954 and provided scheduled airline service until 2007, with the final years supported by the federal Essential Air Service program until that subsidy ended in August 2006. Federal Aviation Administration records show passenger boardings declining through the mid-2000s, from 2,041 in 2004 to 1,721 in 2007, reflecting the wind-down of commercial operations before the field settled into its present general aviation role.
The airport is managed as a general aviation facility with an on-site fixed-base operator offering aircraft fuelling, a pilot's lounge, line and fire services, and a courtesy car available for up to two hours or within a thirty-mile radius. It is also home to Helicopter Powerline Services, an FAA Part 133 operator supporting powerline construction, aerial sawing and right-of-way management. The area draws visiting transient aircraft for nearby recreation, including the Hatfield and McCoy Trail System, and for the annual Coal Show, which brings additional traffic to the apron.
