Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Spokane International Airport (KGEG) is the principal commercial gateway to the Inland Northwest, sitting in the West Hills area some seven miles west-southwest of downtown Spokane, Washington. Built on the site of the former Geiger Field, it retains a long runway heritage from its wartime bomber-training days and today operates as a busy Class C airport with a control tower, ILS approach and scheduled airline and cargo traffic. For a simulator pilot it offers a substantial, well-equipped field with two long paved runways and full radio and navigation services.
Spokane International Airport serves the Inland Northwest, a region of some 30 counties spanning eastern Washington and northern Idaho, including Spokane itself and Coeur d'Alene. It is operated by the Spokane Airport Board and is the second-busiest airport in Washington State by passenger numbers. For a visiting VFR or IFR pilot in the simulator, GEG is a large, historically significant field whose size, long runways and Cold War and wartime past make it a rewarding destination.
The airport lies in the West Hills area of Spokane, Washington, roughly seven miles west-southwest of downtown Spokane, and about four miles east of Fairchild Air Force Base. It sits within Class C airspace, reflecting its status as a busy commercial and cargo airport with an operating control tower.
Spokane International has two paved, lit runway pairs. Runway 03/21 is the longer, at 10,989 feet, hard-surfaced and equipped with an ILS. Runway 08/26 is 8,175 feet, also hard-surfaced and lit, but without an instrument landing system. Field elevation is 2,362 feet.
Pilots should expect to work Tower on 118.3 MHz and Ground on 121.9 MHz, with Clearance Delivery available on 127.55 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 124.325 MHz. A combined Approach/Departure frequency is published on 123.75 MHz, and UNICOM is on 122.95 MHz. Seattle Radio (flight service) can be reached on 122.2 MHz, and an OPS/ARNG frequency of 38.75 MHz is also listed. Runway 03/21 offers an ILS approach.
As a Class C airport with an operating control tower, arriving and departing traffic is worked by Tower and Approach/Departure control on the published frequencies; specific circuit heights and joining procedures are not detailed in available sources.
The airfield began life before 1941 as Sunset Field before being purchased by the War Department and renamed Geiger Field, honouring Major Harold Geiger, an Army aviation pioneer killed in a 1927 crash; this is the origin of the GEG airport code. During the Second World War, Geiger Field served the Second Air Force as a major group training base for B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment units, with aircraft supplied from Boeing near Seattle, and it also functioned as an aircraft maintenance and supply depot for the Air Technical Service Command, with Deer Park Airport and Felts Field as auxiliaries. It was closed in late 1945, passed to the War Assets Administration, and was then transferred to Spokane County for development as a commercial airport, becoming Spokane's municipal airport in 1946 in place of Felts Field. During the Cold War the field hosted USAF Air Defense Command interceptor units, including the 84th Fighter Group flying Convair F-106 Delta Darts, defending nearby Hanford Nuclear Reservation and Grand Coulee Dam; the 4702d Defense Wing moved to the airfield in November 1972. The airport received its present name, Spokane International Airport, in 1960. The Concourse A and B complex opened in 1965, designed by Warren C. Heylman and William Trogdon, gaining a second level in 1974.
Spokane International today is a small-hub commercial and cargo airport serving more than 20 destinations across the continental United States through seven airlines, and it is the largest commercial or public airport in Washington State by land area. Runway 03/21 was extended by 2,000 feet in 2010, along with parallel taxiways, to enable heavier aircraft departures in summer months. A Terminal Renovation and Expansion (TREX) programme, begun in 2022, is enlarging Concourse C, with the first new gates opening in 2024.
