Departure
90%
vs 95% ▼ 5
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
San Gabriel Valley Airport (KEMT), formerly known as El Monte Airport, is a county-owned general aviation field in the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles. It offers a single hard-surfaced runway, an FAA-operated control tower, and a busy mix of flight training, corporate and air-ambulance traffic, making it a useful and instructive destination for VFR pilots flying in the Los Angeles basin.
San Gabriel Valley Airport, carrying the ICAO identifier KEMT and IATA code EMT, is a public general aviation airport in El Monte, Los Angeles County, California. Long known as El Monte Airport, it was renamed San Gabriel Valley Airport in November 2014. It is owned and operated by the County of Los Angeles and today supports flight training, business and corporate flying, and critical care air ambulance operations, making it a well-used and approachable field for simulator pilots exploring the eastern Los Angeles basin.
The airport sits in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley in El Monte, with convenient access from the Interstate 10 and Interstate 210 freeways, placing it firmly within the wider Los Angeles terminal airspace environment. Arriving and departing traffic works with Southern California Approach/Departure on 125.5 MHz, and the field itself is served by an FAA-operated air traffic control tower.
The airport has a single physical runway, 01/19, hard-surfaced and lit. The published landing distances differ by direction: 3,703 feet when used as runway 01 and 3,350 feet when used as runway 19. Field elevation is 285 feet, and there is no ILS approach.
Pilots should expect the following frequencies at San Gabriel Valley Airport: ATIS on 118.75 MHz, Ground on 125.9 MHz, Tower/CTAF on 121.2 MHz, Unicom on 122.95 MHz, and Southern California Approach/Departure on 125.5 MHz. There is no ILS at the field.
Arriving pilots should monitor the ATIS on 118.75 MHz before contacting the tower, which also serves as the common traffic advisory frequency on 121.2 MHz, with ground movements coordinated on 125.9 MHz. The airport operates under the control of its FAA-operated tower around the clock.
The airport lies close to the junction of the Interstate 10 and Interstate 210 freeways in El Monte, which serve as useful landmarks for pilots orienting themselves in the San Gabriel Valley when inbound to the field.
San Gabriel Valley Airport traces its origins to 1936, when it was first constructed on 35 acres of land in the Rio Hondo riverbed. It was built and initially operated by Mr. Livermore before being sold to Mr. Robert Wanamaker, who expanded the site to 70 acres. The County of Los Angeles entered into a lease to take over operation of the airport in 1965. In 1994, the entire runway surface was resealed using Rubberized Asphalt Slurry Seal, an innovative asphalt mix developed by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works incorporating recycled tyre material. The airport, long known as El Monte Airport, was officially renamed San Gabriel Valley Airport in November 2014.
San Gabriel Valley Airport is now spread over 103 acres and is home to a large general aviation population, with several hundred based aircraft including single-engine, multi-engine and helicopter types. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, under the control of an FAA-operated air traffic control tower. Facilities on the field include a restaurant, a pilots' lounge and numerous aviation-related businesses, and daily operations include flight training, business and corporate flights, and critical care air ambulance services.
