Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Charleston International Airport (KCHS) is a joint civil-military field in North Charleston, South Carolina, sharing its runways with Joint Base Charleston and hosting the Boeing 787 final assembly plant. Its two long, lit runway pairs and full ILS approach make it a straightforward destination for simulator pilots flying airline or general aviation types into the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Charleston International Airport lies in North Charleston, South Carolina, roughly 12 miles northwest of downtown Charleston, and is operated by the Charleston County Aviation Authority under a joint-use agreement with Joint Base Charleston. It is South Carolina's busiest airport and combines scheduled airline service with a significant military presence, general aviation activity, and the Boeing facility that assembles the 787 Dreamliner. For a sim pilot, the field offers long, well-lit hard-surfaced runways with an ILS, a mix of airline, military and general aviation traffic, and a genuinely interesting operational history stretching back to the 1920s.
Charleston International sits between Summerville and Charleston, South Carolina, near the coast, and is classified within Class C airspace. General aviation traffic shares the field with airline operations and Joint Base Charleston's military flying. Nearby satellite airports Summerville Airport (DYB) and Charleston Executive Airport (JZI) both lie close to the final approach courses for runway 15/33, so pilots should be alert to that traffic when operating in the vicinity.
Charleston International has two physical runway pairs. Runway 15/33 is 8,999 feet long, hard-surfaced, lit and equipped with ILS on both directions. Runway 03/21 is 6,999 feet long, hard-surfaced and lit, without an ILS. Field elevation is 33 feet.
Charleston Approach operates on 119.3 MHz, with an additional approach frequency of 30.692 MHz. Departure is on 120.7 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 124.75 MHz, Ground on 121.9 MHz, and Tower on 126 MHz. Unicom is available on 122.95 MHz, and a radio frequency of 122.2 MHz is also listed. VFR aircraft calling for flight-following or ATC services should phrase their initial transmission as 'Charleston Clearance NXXXX VFR request', while VFR aircraft inbound for landing should call 'Charleston approach, NXXXXX VFR request'. Ground control is sometimes combined with clearance delivery. The field has a full ILS approach available on runway 15/33.
Summerville Airport (DYB) and Charleston Executive Airport (JZI) both lie near the final approach courses for runway 15/33 and are useful reference points for inbound VFR traffic to note and avoid conflicting with that final approach path.
Charleston Airport Corporation was founded in 1928 and purchased 700 acres of land previously belonging to a mining company. Although privately developed at first, the City of Charleston floated bonds in 1931 to acquire part of the site for passenger service, and within ten years three runways had been paved and lit for night operations. During the Second World War control passed to the United States Army, though civilian use continued alongside military operations. After the war the field briefly reverted to civilian use, and a new passenger terminal was built in 1949. During the Korean War the airfield was reactivated for military use, and in 1952 the City of Charleston and the United States Air Force reached an agreement on control of the base and runways, an arrangement that has been renegotiated over the years and continues today. In 1979 the civilian portions of the airport passed from the City of Charleston to the Charleston County Aviation Authority. In October 2009 Boeing announced it would build a major final-assembly plant for the 787 Dreamliner on the airfield, beginning limited operations in July 2011 and rolling out its first completed aircraft in April 2012. The airport has seen occasional international service, including a brief Air Canada route from Toronto in 2001, Porter Airlines flights to Toronto in 2015, a seasonal British Airways service to London Heathrow launched in April 2019, and the resumption of Air Canada's Toronto route from March 2024.
Charleston International today combines four general areas: a military area to the west under Joint Base Charleston, an airline terminal to the south, a general aviation area to the east, and the Boeing assembly site further south. Joint Base Charleston owns and operates the runways, with an agreement allowing civilian use, while general aviation services are run by the Charleston County Aviation Authority. As of the most recent figures cited, 81 aircraft were based at the field, comprising 28 single-engine, 6 multi-engine, 43 jet and 4 helicopter types, with a mix of commercial, general aviation, military and air-taxi movements. Given the shared military and civilian use, pilots should expect that prior permission may be required for general aviation operations.
