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Wilmington Airport, previously known as New Castle Airport, lies in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, a few miles south of the city of Wilmington and about thirty miles southwest of Philadelphia. Owned by New Castle County and operated by the Delaware River and Bay Authority, it is Delaware's only airport with scheduled commercial service, and its long, well-lit runways and control tower make it a straightforward and useful destination for visiting VFR and IFR pilots alike.
Wilmington Airport (KILG), also known historically as New Castle Airport, serves the city of Wilmington, Delaware, from a site in unincorporated New Castle County. It is owned by New Castle County and operated under lease by the Delaware River and Bay Authority, the same body that runs the Delaware Memorial Bridge and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. The field combines a wartime military heritage with continuing general aviation and light commercial activity, and its generous runway lengths, tower service and ILS approach give a simulator pilot a realistic taste of a busy regional field without the complexity of a major hub.
The airport sits about five miles south of the city of Wilmington and roughly thirty miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, placing it within the wider Philadelphia terminal area. Philadelphia Approach/Departure works inbound and outbound traffic on 118.35 MHz, and Wilmington's own tower and ground frequencies indicate the field has an operating control tower rather than being an uncontrolled strip.
Wilmington Airport has three paved, lit runways. Runway 09/27 is 7,247 feet long, runway 01/19 is 7,003 feet long with an ILS serving runway 01, and runway 14/32 is 4,588 feet long. All three are hard-surfaced, giving ample length for a wide range of general aviation and light commercial aircraft.
Philadelphia Approach/Departure is reached on 118.35 MHz. The airport's own ATIS broadcasts on 123.95 MHz, with clearance delivery on 119.95 MHz. Wilmington Tower and the common traffic advisory frequency both operate on 126 MHz, ground control is on 121.7 MHz, and Unicom is available on 122.95 MHz. An ILS is available for runway 01.
The airfield opened during the Second World War under the names Wilmington Airport and Greater Wilmington Airport, and while still under construction was taken over by the United States Army Air Forces, becoming New Castle Army Air Base. Its wartime role was to help move aircraft to Britain and other Allied nations, and members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) served here as test and ferry pilots and towed targets for student gunners; a statue at the airport today commemorates their service. After the war the airport reverted to civil control, though a joint-use arrangement with the United States Air Force retained part of the site for an Air National Guard base. Trans World Airlines ran a major overhaul base for its overseas aircraft here until 1957, when the work moved to what became Kansas City International Airport. Wilmington hosted Delaware's first airline flights when TWA and American Airlines began service in late 1947, and the aviator Charles Lindbergh flew in from Atlantic City on 21 October 1927 during his post-transatlantic tour of the United States. From 1959 to 1971 the field was the main operating base of the charter carrier Capitol International Airways and its DC-8 fleet. By 1967 Eastern Airlines was flying DC-9 jets from Wilmington to Newark, Philadelphia, Washington National, Atlanta and Charlotte, while Allegheny Airlines operated Fairchild F-27 and later Convair 580 services to nearby cities. United Airlines briefly served Wilmington with one-stop jet flights to Chicago between 1984 and 1987. Delaware has, at several points since 1990, been the only U.S. state without scheduled airline service, reflecting the intermittent nature of commercial flying here; carriers such as Crown Airways, Shuttle America, Frontier Airlines and, most recently, Avelo Airlines have each operated from the field at different times.
Wilmington Airport remains the only airport in Delaware with regular scheduled commercial flights, currently serving as an operating base for Avelo Airlines, and recorded 133,377 passenger enplanements in 2023. It has 219 based aircraft, reflecting a healthy general aviation population alongside the commercial operation. The field is owned by New Castle County and operated under lease by the Delaware River and Bay Authority. The terminal itself offers only vending facilities, though The Legend's Restaurant on the airport property and other food options nearby are available to visiting pilots and passengers.
