Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (KCHO) lies eight miles north of Charlottesville in Albemarle County, Virginia, serving the Central Virginia and Shenandoah Valley region with scheduled airline services alongside a busy general aviation base. Its single long, ILS-equipped runway and Potomac-controlled airspace make it a straightforward but professionally-run destination for visiting pilots.
Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport is a public, FAA-classified non-hub primary commercial service airport owned by the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport Authority. It sits eight miles north of the city of Charlottesville in Albemarle County, Virginia, and combines scheduled airline operations with a significant general aviation presence, including flight training, charter work and an air ambulance base. For a simulator pilot it offers a realistic mix of airline traffic, an ILS approach and an active tower environment within reach of the Shenandoah Valley.
The airport is located in Albemarle County, Virginia, eight miles north of the city of Charlottesville. Approach and departure control is provided by Potomac Approach/Departure. A remote communications outlet operated as Leesburg Radio is also available on the field's frequency list, reflecting the airport's position within the wider Potomac terminal airspace structure.
KCHO has a single physical runway, 03/21, orientated northeast-southwest. It is 6,810 feet long with a hard (asphalt) surface, lit for night operations, and equipped with an ILS on runway 03.
Air/Departure control is provided by Potomac Approach/Departure on 132.85 MHz. The airport broadcasts ATIS and ASOS on 118.425 MHz. Ground movements are handled on 121.9 MHz, and the tower operates on 124.5 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF when the tower is not active. A remote Leesburg Radio outlet is listed on 122.2 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Runway 03 is served by an ILS approach.
The airport lies eight miles north of the city of Charlottesville, within the broader Shenandoah Valley region, providing a useful general landmark for pilots orientating themselves toward the field.
Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport opened in 1955, with Piedmont Airlines DC-3s beginning service that year. The first jet service arrived in 1967 with Piedmont 727s, around which time the runway was extended from 4,661 feet to 6,000 feet. A further runway extension project, begun in the summer of 2010, added roughly 800 feet and was completed in December 2012, bringing the runway to its current length. In 2023 the airport completed a full upgrade of its airfield lighting to LED.
The airport is served by American Eagle, Delta Air Lines, Delta Connection and United Express, operating regional jet and turboprop types on routes to cities including Charlotte, Atlanta, New York-LaGuardia, Washington-Dulles and Chicago-O'Hare. General aviation is supported by a full-service fixed-base operator, flight schools, and aircraft charter operators, and the field hosts the University of Virginia Hospital's Pegasus air ambulance service. As of January 2022 the airport had 56 based aircraft, comprising single- and multi-engine piston aircraft, jets, a helicopter and an ultralight.
