Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Gainesville Regional Airport (KGNV) lies three miles northeast of downtown Gainesville, Florida, and is the primary gateway for north-central Florida, serving both scheduled airline traffic and a substantial general aviation community. The field offers a long ILS-equipped primary runway alongside a shorter crosswind runway, making it a straightforward and well-equipped destination for visiting VFR and IFR traffic alike.
Gainesville Regional Airport, known locally as GNV, sits three miles northeast of Gainesville in Alachua County, Florida, and is owned and operated by the Gainesville-Alachua County Regional Airport Authority. It combines scheduled airline service with a busy general aviation base, and its history as a wartime Army airfield gives it a long runway well suited to a range of aircraft. For a visiting sim pilot it offers a full-service tower environment, an ILS approach, and an active flying community, including an annual fly-in that draws warbirds and classic aircraft.
The airport is located within the municipal boundary of Gainesville, Florida, three miles northeast of the city centre. It is served by Jacksonville Approach/Departure for arrivals and departures at 118.175 MHz, placing it within the wider Jacksonville terminal airspace structure. The field has its own control tower, which operates daily from 6:45 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville_Regional_Airport).
Gainesville Regional has two physical runways. The primary runway, 11/29, is 7,484 feet long with a hard surface and runway lighting; runway 29 is equipped with an ILS approach. The secondary runway, 07/25, is 4,150 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit. Field elevation is 131 feet.
Jacksonville Approach/Departure is available on 118.175 MHz for arriving and departing traffic. The airport's ATIS broadcasts on 127.15 MHz. The tower and common traffic frequency (CTAF) operate on 119.55 MHz, with ground control on 121.7 MHz. Additional radio frequencies of 122.1 MHz and 122.2 MHz are published, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Runway 29 is served by an ILS approach.
The control tower at Gainesville Regional operates daily from 6:45 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; outside these hours the field reverts to non-towered operations using the CTAF on 119.55 MHz. Pilots should expect standard tower-controlled arrival and departure sequencing during operating hours given the mix of airline and general aviation traffic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville_Regional_Airport).
Construction of the airfield began in April 1940 as a Works Project Administration project, with initial construction completed in 1941. Built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the site became known as Alachua Army Airfield and was used by the Army Air Corps and later the Army Air Forces during the Second World War. The airfield was declared surplus in September 1945 and handed to the Army Corps of Engineers in October 1946, before the War Assets Administration deeded it to the City of Gainesville in 1948 for civil use. It operated for a time as John R. Alison Airport, or Gainesville Municipal Airport, before being renamed Gainesville Regional Airport in October 1977; the terminal itself was dedicated to John R. Alison in 1979. Eastern Airlines served the airport from the 1950s until its bankruptcy in 1991, at various times offering flights to Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Ocala, Atlanta and Miami, while Air Florida also served Gainesville in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1986 the Florida Legislature established the Gainesville-Alachua County Regional Airport Authority to oversee the airport. The field hosted Air Force One in October 2004 during George W. Bush's re-election campaign, and Air Force Two in 2023 following Hurricane Idalia. Eclipse Aviation operated its first factory service centre for the Eclipse 500 at the airport until the company's 2009 bankruptcy, with Silver Airways later taking over maintenance facilities there (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville_Regional_Airport).
Gainesville Regional continues to combine scheduled airline service with an active general aviation base, and its runway 11/29 refurbishment and other infrastructure projects have kept the field well maintained. The control tower operates daily from 6:45 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. The airport annually hosts the Gator Fly In at its general aviation facilities, an event featuring military aircraft displays, a classic car show, and rides aboard aircraft including a Ford Trimotor, a Cessna 172, and helicopters, giving visiting pilots an active and varied general aviation scene to fly into (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville_Regional_Airport).
