Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal (KBMI) is a public, tower-controlled field three miles east of Bloomington and southeast of Normal, Illinois, serving as the region's primary commercial airport while also supporting general aviation. It offers a long, ILS-equipped main runway and a shorter crosswind runway, making it a straightforward destination for both airline traffic and visiting light aircraft.
Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal, also known locally as CIRA, is a publicly owned field operated by the Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority. It sits east of the twin cities of Bloomington and Normal in McLean County, Illinois, and combines scheduled airline service with general aviation activity. For a visiting simulator pilot it offers the interest of a fully equipped instrument approach onto a long hard-surfaced runway, alongside a shorter crosswind runway, all within a compact, tower-controlled airfield with a long and well-documented history stretching back to the late 1920s.
The airport lies in McLean County, Illinois, three miles east of Bloomington and southeast of Normal, along Illinois Route 9. The field is served by its own control tower, Bloomington Tower, with approach and departure control provided by Peoria Approach/Departure on 118.05 MHz. Pilots operating to or from KBMI should expect to work with this tower and approach structure rather than operating in uncontrolled airspace.
KBMI has two physical runways. Runway 02/20 is 7,991 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with an ILS. Runway 11/29 is 6,508 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit, with an ILS serving runway 29. Field elevation is 863 feet above mean sea level, at coordinates 40.4771, -88.9159.
Bloomington Tower operates on 124.6 MHz, which also serves as the field's CTAF. Ground control is on 121.65 MHz, and Unicom is available on 122.95 MHz. ATIS and ASOS weather information are both broadcast on 135.35 MHz. Peoria Approach/Departure, which provides approach and departure control for the field, is on 118.05 MHz. A radio facility is also listed at Kankakee on 108.2 MHz. An ILS approach is available, associated with runway 02/20 and runway 29.
KBMI is a towered airport, and inbound pilots should expect to receive joining and sequencing instructions from Bloomington Tower on 124.6 MHz, having first obtained current field information from the ATIS on 135.35 MHz. Ground movement and taxi instructions are handled separately on 121.65 MHz. No specific published circuit heights or local noise-abatement procedures are given in the available material.
The airport lies along Illinois Route 9 east of Bloomington, which serves as a useful ground reference for pilots approaching from the west. No formally published visual reference points for arriving traffic are otherwise detailed in the available material.
Aviation in the Bloomington-Normal area dates to 1927, when farmer Herman Will opened a field of more than 70 acres in rural Normal Township, bordered by the newly paved Illinois 2 and the Illinois Central Railroad. The Bloomington Flying Club, which owned a Jenny-type biplane, helped fund a hangar and support day-to-day operations. The field was dedicated on 30 May 1928 before a crowd of around 10,000, with an air show featuring stunt pilot Steve Lacey and escape artist Nathan B. Winslow, who freed himself from a straitjacket mid-flight. The U.S. Department of Commerce recognised the field shortly afterward, and on 11 July 1929 it hosted the Central Illinois Air Derby, then billed as the largest such event in Illinois outside Chicago. Century Air Lines added Bloomington to its Chicago-St Louis route in 1931, though the wet winter of 1931-32 made the field too soft for its Stinson tri-motors; American Airways briefly took over the route in 1932 before withdrawing after two days. Nothing remains of this original Normal airfield today, though a historic marker stands near the north end of Constitution Trail, close to a Rivian Automotive warehouse. With federal Civil Works Administration funding during the Depression, local officials chose a new 164-acre site east of Bloomington along Illinois 9 in December 1933. The airport that grew from this site, originally known as Bloomington Municipal Airport, was founded in 1946 by businessman and aviation enthusiast Charles G. Shafer, backed by a $50,000 city bond issue. It served as a general aviation hub for flights around the Midwest, and a permanent passenger terminal opened in 1964, complete with the popular Arnie's Restaurant & Lounge, which drew fly-in visitors. Between 1964 and 2001 the airport hosted a succession of commercial carriers, including Britt Airways, Ozark Airways, Air Midwest, Midwest Express, Northwest Airlink, Continental Express, Midway Connection, Trans World Express, American Eagle Airlines, United Express and Frontier Airlines, connecting Bloomington-Normal to cities such as Chicago, St Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee and Denver. A new terminal, marking the airport's present-day identity as Central Illinois Regional Airport, opened in 2001. In 2013, the airport's control tower was threatened with closure under the federal budget sequester, but the Federal Aviation Administration ultimately reversed the decision, preserving controlled operations at the field.
Central Illinois Regional Airport continues to operate as a towered, dual-role field combining scheduled airline service with general aviation activity. FAA figures record 74 based aircraft and 23,199 aircraft operations in 2021, reflecting a steady mix of commercial and general aviation traffic through the current terminal, which has served the airport since 2001.
