Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Key West International Airport (KEYW/EYW) sits on the eastern edge of Key West, Florida, serving as the southernmost airport in the continental United States. It offers a single asphalt runway and handles a mix of airline jets, regional turboprops and general aviation traffic, making it a useful but runway-length-limited destination for visiting pilots.
Key West International Airport is a public airport owned and operated by Monroe County, located in the City of Key West, Florida. It is the principal air gateway to the Florida Keys, handling scheduled airline service alongside general aviation traffic, and is of interest to simulator pilots both for its distinctive island setting and for the operational constraints imposed by its short runway.
The airport lies about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the main commercial center of Key West, on the eastern side of the island. It should not be confused with the nearby Naval Air Station Key West, a separate military airfield on Boca Chica Key. The field is served by an operating air traffic control tower.
Key West International has a single physical runway, 09/27, 4,787 feet long with a hard surface and lit for night operations. There is no ILS approach available.
Air traffic control tower and CTAF operate on 118.2 MHz, with ground control on 121.9 MHz and clearance delivery also on 121.9 MHz. ATIS is broadcast on 119.675 MHz and ASOS on 119.65 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz, and Miami Radio (FSS) can be reached on 122.2 MHz. An additional air-to-ground/military frequency, 124.45 MHz, is listed for Navy Key West.
The airport sits on the eastern side of Key West island, roughly 2 miles from the town's commercial center, with the terminal visible from the Atlantic Ocean side of the field.
Key West's aviation history dates to 1913, when Augustin Parla flew from the area to Cuba, and Pan American Airways began scheduled flights from Key West in 1928. The airport originated as Meacham Field, whose main runway was used by the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor and later by the U.S. Navy as an alternative to the Trumbo Point seaplane base and the Naval Air Station on Boca Chica Key. After the Second World War the City of Key West took over the field as Key West Municipal Airport, and in January 1953 the city transferred title to Monroe County, enabling it to seek Federal Aviation Administration grants; around this time the airport became Key West International Airport. National Airlines began service to Miami in 1944 using Lockheed Lodestars, though the airport had no paved runway until around 1956. National operated Convair 340/440 piston aircraft and later Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops, and in 1968 introduced the airport's first jet service with Boeing 727-100s to Miami, expanding by 1969 to daily 727 service to Washington National, Philadelphia and New York JFK via intermediate stops. Air Florida flew Boeing 737s to Miami by 1979, Eastern Airlines operated nonstop 727 service through the 1980s, and Piedmont Airlines (later USAir) flew Fokker F28 jets into the field by 1989. Numerous commuter carriers, including Provincetown-Boston Airlines, Gull Air, Southeast Airlines and American Eagle, served Key West through the 1970s and 1980s with a wide range of turboprop and piston twin equipment. By the early 1990s mainline jet service had ended, and the airport relied on propeller operators such as Cape Air, which began flying to Naples in 1993, until mainline jet service returned in 2009 with AirTran's Boeing 737-700 flights to Orlando and Delta's upgrade of some Atlanta flights to mainline 737 equipment.
Key West International today handles scheduled airline service from carriers including Delta, American, United and Silver, alongside a substantial volume of general aviation traffic, and the airport has facilities for aircraft fuelling. International general aviation arrivals are subject to U.S. Customs and Border Protection procedures. The short 4,787-foot runway continues to limit the size and departure weight of aircraft that can be operated from the field.
