Departure
93%
vs 95% ▼ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Hilton Head Airport (KHXD/HXD, IATA HHH) sits on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, serving both scheduled regional airline traffic and a lively general aviation community. Its single paved runway, equipped with an ILS, makes it a straightforward but characterful VFR and IFR destination for pilots visiting this well-known Lowcountry resort island.
Hilton Head Airport is the only airport on Hilton Head Island, combining a small commercial terminal with a full-service general aviation facility. Known to airlines by the IATA code HHH but to the FAA and ICAO as HXD/KHXD, the field has a distinctive history tied to golf: it was built in the 1960s after Arnold Palmer reportedly told developer Charles E. Fraser he would play golf on the island if there were an airport to land at. For the visiting simulator pilot it offers a compact single-runway operation with an ILS approach, tower service, and the appeal of a well-known holiday island as a backdrop.
The airport lies near the northeastern shoreline of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina (https://www.faa.gov/hxd). It is a towered field, with approach and departure services provided by Savannah Approach/Departure on 125.3 MHz. Ground movement is coordinated on 121.1 MHz, and the airport broadcasts its own ATIS on 121.4 MHz.
Hilton Head Airport has one physical runway, 03/21, hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 03 is 4,704 feet long and runway 21 is 4,598 feet long; runway 21 is served by an ILS. Field elevation is 13 feet.
Tower operates on 118.975 MHz, with ground control on 121.1 MHz and ATIS on 121.4 MHz. Savannah Approach/Departure handles arrivals and departures on 125.3 MHz. A radio outlet, Anderson Radio, is listed on 122.55 MHz, and UNICOM/CTAF is available on 123 MHz. An ILS serves runway 21.
Hilton Head Airport's tower does not have radar surveillance to determine aircraft positions, which the FAA notes has led to pilots occasionally entering the traffic pattern for the wrong runway; visiting pilots should take particular care to confirm which runway is active and fly the correct pattern side accordingly (https://www.faa.gov/hxd).
The airport lies mid-island, close to Hilton Head's built-up core and within a few minutes of the island's ocean-facing beaches, giving pilots a readily identifiable shoreline and island outline to navigate by when inbound from the mainland or the coast.
Hilton Head Island Airport opened in 1967, built in part to allow easier access to the island's growing number of golf courses; the often-told story is that Arnold Palmer promised developer Charles E. Fraser he would play golf on Hilton Head if an airport were built for him to land at. Scheduled airline service dates back to the early 1970s, when Air South (Georgia) flew Fairchild F-27s to Atlanta between 1972 and 1977. The runway was extended from 4,300 feet to 5,000 feet in the summer of 2018, and that same year Republic Airways began operating Embraer E175 regional jets from the field, marking the airport's first scheduled commercial jet service after Piedmont Airlines' Dash 8 operations ended on 5 July 2018 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton_Head_Airport).
Today the airport handles a mix of general aviation, flight training, and scheduled regional airline flights, with American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express operating seasonal and year-round services alongside general aviation traffic that made up the majority of operations in recent years. The field opens 90 minutes before the first scheduled flight and closes one hour after the last (https://hiltonheadairport.com/info.html). A full-service general aviation facility is on site.
