Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport (KBRD) serves the Brainerd Lakes area of central Minnesota, offering both scheduled Delta Connection service and a busy general aviation base. Two intersecting hard-surfaced runways, both fitted with ILS approaches, make it a straightforward destination for visual and instrument flying alike.
Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport is a city- and county-owned public-use field serving the Brainerd Lakes area of central Minnesota. Although classed as a primary commercial service airport thanks to scheduled Delta Connection flights to Minneapolis/St Paul, the field is predominantly a general aviation airport, with the resident FBO, NorthPoint Aviation, supporting training, charter and helicopter operations. For a simulator pilot it offers a good mix of airline traffic, light aircraft movements and a full ILS-equipped runway system.
The airport lies about three nautical miles northeast of downtown Brainerd, in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, at an elevation of 1,224 feet. It is a non-towered field: pilots use the common traffic advisory frequency for self-announced arrivals and departures, with an automated surface observing system providing weather, and Minneapolis Center reachable through a remote Princeton radio outlet for IFR and flight-following purposes.
Brainerd Lakes has two paved runway pairs, both hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 16/34 is the longer, with 16 at 7,053 feet and 34 at 7,261 feet; runway 34 is equipped with an ILS. Runway 05/23 measures 6,591 feet on 05 and 6,662 feet on 23, with 23 also served by an ILS.
Weather is available on the automated surface observing system at 126.775 MHz. Minneapolis Center can be contacted on 118.05 MHz, with a remote radio outlet at Princeton on 123.65 MHz. The common traffic advisory frequency and UNICOM is 122.7 MHz. Instrument approaches are available to runways 34 and 23 via ILS.
As a non-towered airport, traffic at Brainerd Lakes is coordinated by pilots self-announcing on the 122.7 MHz CTAF/UNICOM frequency rather than through a control tower.
The airport sits within the Brainerd Lakes area, a region characterised by numerous lakes surrounding the city of Brainerd, which provide a useful general landmark for pilots approaching from any direction.
Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport has long combined scheduled and general aviation roles; it has been listed in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems as a primary commercial service airport, reflecting more than 10,000 annual enplanements. On 9 January 1983, Republic Airlines Flight 927, a Convair 580, skidded off the runway during a non-precision approach in sleet and snow, with the right propeller striking a snowbank and penetrating the cabin; one passenger was killed and another seriously injured, though the aircraft was later repaired and returned to service. In 2020 the airport received a substantial CARES Act federal relief award to support operations during the aviation downturn of that period.
The airport continues to host daily Delta Connection service to Minneapolis/St Paul alongside a significant general aviation presence, with around 78 based aircraft including single- and multi-engine types, jets and helicopters. NorthPoint Aviation operates as the full-service fixed base operator, providing 100LL and Jet A fuel, de-icing, maintenance, flight training and charter flights, while Brainerd Helicopter Service offers helicopter charters from the field.
