Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Treasure Coast International Airport (KFPR), still often listed under its earlier name St Lucie County International Airport, lies three miles northwest of Fort Pierce on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is a busy general-aviation and flight-training field with three runways, full ATC services and a Customs and Border Protection Federal Inspection Station, making it a popular stop for aircraft transiting to and from the Bahamas.
Treasure Coast International Airport, formerly and still sometimes referred to as St Lucie County International Airport, is a county-owned public airport serving Fort Pierce, Florida. It is heavily used by general aviation and by several flight schools based on the field, and its Federal Inspection Station operated by US Customs and Border Protection makes it a common arrival and departure point for private aircraft flying to and from the Bahamas. For a simulator pilot, its mix of a long ILS-equipped runway, a shorter crosswind strip and a dedicated training runway, along with a control tower, makes it a good option for practising airline-style approaches alongside general-aviation circuit work.
The airport sits about three miles northwest of downtown Fort Pierce, in St Lucie County on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is a towered field, with Fort Pierce Tower and Ground positions active alongside a published CTAF, and Miami Center provides the overlying en-route service.
The airport has three physical runways. Runway 10R/28L is the main hard-surfaced strip at 6,479 feet, lit and equipped with an ILS. Runway 14/32 is 4,747 feet, hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 10L/28R, a dedicated training runway completed more recently, is 3,993 feet, hard-surfaced and lit. Field elevation is 20 feet.
Fort Pierce Tower operates on 128.2 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF. Ground control is on 119.55 MHz, and the airport ATIS broadcasts on 134.825 MHz. Miami Center handles the surrounding en-route airspace on 132.25 MHz, with Miami Radio available on 122.55 MHz. Runway 10R is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
Traffic pattern direction varies by runway: left-hand patterns apply to runways 10L, 10R and 32, while right-hand patterns apply to runways 28R, 28L and 14. A dedicated north-south connector taxiway links the training runway 10L/28R with the main runway 10R/28L, reducing the need for training traffic to cross or use the primary runway at the start and end of training flights.
The airport lies roughly three miles northwest of the centre of Fort Pierce, making the city and the Atlantic coastline useful general orientation features when approaching from the east.
The airport's origins trace back to 1921, when the Commercial Club of Fort Pierce built a small airfield on the site of what is now the local American Legion building. The county purchased 1,600 acres in 1930 that eventually became the present airport, though the first dedicated commercial airfield opened nearby in 1935. During the Second World War the site, then known as Fort Pierce Airport, was leased by the US Navy as an auxiliary field for pilots and crews from Naval Air Stations Vero Beach, Melbourne and Fort Lauderdale, who used it for day and night field carrier landing practice ahead of actual carrier operations; scout aircraft, dive bombers and torpedo bombers flew from runways redesigned by the military for this training. The Navy handed the airfield back to the county in 1947, including two newly built runways, at no cost for the improvements. For the following decade the field saw little investment and became overgrown, with cattle grazing on the airfield. Major development resumed in the 1960s and 1970s with a new terminal, hangars, airfield lighting, navigation aids and fuel facilities; Curtis King, appointed the airport's first full-time director in 1967, oversaw much of this growth over a 31-year career. The field was renamed St Lucie County Airport and then, in 1980, St Lucie County International Airport. In 1988 it briefly hosted scheduled airline service when Delta Connection, operated by Comair, flew Embraer Bandeirante commuters to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Two of the airport's original four runways were later decommissioned, with one site becoming a commerce park, while the surviving long runway was lengthened and improved and renumbered from 9R/27L to 10R/28L. The newer training runway, 10L/28R, was completed in early 2010 at a cost of 15.3 million dollars. Around 2017 the airport adopted its current name, Treasure Coast International Airport.
The airport remains primarily a general-aviation and flight-training facility, hosting several flight schools and supporting a high volume of local and transient training traffic. Its Federal Inspection Station, staffed by US Customs and Border Protection, makes it a regular stopping point for private aircraft travelling to and from the Bahamas. Aircraft based at the field include single and multi-engine piston types, jets, helicopters and at least one glider. Prior permission is required for some operations at the airport.
