Departure
93%
vs 95% ▼ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Fresno Yosemite International Airport (KFAT) is the principal commercial gateway to California's San Joaquin Valley and the nearby national parks of Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon. A joint military-public field owned and operated by the City of Fresno, it combines scheduled airline traffic with an Air National Guard fighter wing on its southeast corner. Two long, hard-surfaced runways, one with an ILS, make it a capable and interesting destination for simulator pilots operating in California's Central Valley.
Fresno Yosemite International Airport sits on the eastern side of the city of Fresno and is owned and operated by the City of Fresno. It is a joint military-public facility, sharing its ramps with the 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard, the Fresno Air Attack Base for aerial firefighting, and units of the California Army National Guard, California Highway Patrol, Fresno County Sheriff's Office and Fresno Police Department. Fresno is also a major operations base for SkyWest Airlines, and the field carries scheduled international service to Mexico, giving it customs and landing-rights facilities that add a layer of realism for sim pilots flying international general aviation or airline routings into the Central Valley.
KFAT lies within Class C airspace, reflecting its status as a busy regional airline and military field. The airport is located in Fresno, California, at coordinates 36.7766 N, 119.719 W, at an elevation of 328 feet. Fresno's original civil field, Chandler Field, lies about 1.5 miles west of downtown Fresno and continues to operate today as the Fresno Chandler Executive Airport, acting as a reliever field to KFAT.
Fresno Yosemite International has two parallel hard-surfaced runways, both lit. Runway 11L/29R is the longer of the pair, with 11L declared at 9,527 feet and 29R at 9,208 feet, and it is equipped with an ILS approach. Runway 11R/29L is 7,994 feet in each direction and is lit but has no instrument landing system.
Air traffic services at KFAT include Tower on 118.2 MHz, Ground on 121.7 MHz, ATIS on 121.35 MHz, and Clearance Delivery on 124.35 MHz. Approach and Departure control operate on 118.5 MHz and 35.195 MHz, while Unicom is available on 122.95 MHz. A remote radio outlet, Rancho Radio, is listed on 122.2 MHz. Runway 11L is served by an ILS for instrument approaches.
As Class C airspace, KFAT requires aircraft to establish two-way radio contact with Fresno Approach prior to entry, in line with standard Class C arrival and departure procedures.
Downtown Fresno lies close to the airport, with the former Chandler Field, now Fresno Chandler Executive Airport, situated about 1.5 miles west of the city centre and useful as a secondary landmark when orienting toward KFAT from the west.
The airport began life in June 1942 as Hammer Field, a United States Army Air Forces training base opened six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It served the Fourth Air Force as a pilot training facility and, from January 1944, hosted night-fighter training in Northrop P-61s, first under the 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group and then the 319th Wing, which also added Bell P-59 Airacomet training that year under commanding officer Col. Ralph H. Snavely. At the time, Fresno's civil traffic used the smaller Chandler Field, opened in 1929, which was already recognised as too small for the larger airliners coming into service. After the war, Hammer Field was inactivated and in 1946 the War Assets Administration transferred the site to the City of Fresno, which began building a passenger terminal. The renamed Fresno Air Terminal opened in 1948, with Trans World Airlines and United Airlines transferring their San Francisco/Oakland and Los Angeles services from Chandler Field. A wartime proposal to base Convair B-36 Strategic Air Command operations at a
KFAT today operates as a joint military-public airport under City of Fresno ownership. The Fresno Air National Guard Base on the airport's southeast corner is home to the 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard, while the Fresno Air Attack Base on the eastern side supports aerial firefighting operations. Other government and military tenants include the California Army National Guard, the California Highway Patrol, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office and the Fresno Police Department. The airport is also a major operations base for SkyWest Airlines and provides scheduled international service to Mexico alongside its domestic network.
