Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Indianapolis International Airport (KIND) is the primary commercial and cargo gateway for Indiana, sited seven miles southwest of downtown Indianapolis in Marion County. It combines a full Class C, radar-served airfield with three substantial runways, and hosts the second-largest FedEx Express hub in the world alongside Republic Airways' headquarters and an Allegiant Air operating base, making it a busy and instructive destination for the simulator pilot flying heavy metal or general aviation types alike.
Indianapolis International Airport, ICAO code KIND, serves Indianapolis and the state of Indiana as its principal air-transport hub. It is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority and lies seven miles southwest of downtown Indianapolis in Marion County. For the simulator pilot the field offers a genuine mix of traffic: heavy passenger jets, general aviation movements, and one of the world's largest express freight operations, all worked by a full tower and approach service, making it a rewarding airport for airline, cargo and GA flying alike.
KIND sits within Marion County, Indiana, seven miles (11 km) southwest of downtown Indianapolis. The airport is home to the Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZID), one of the FAA's 22 area control centres, located on the north side of the airfield property. The field is tagged as Class C airspace, reflecting its status as a major commercial hub with full radar approach and departure control divided into east and west sectors.
Indianapolis International has three physical runways. The main parallel pair, 05L/23R, is the longest at 11,183 ft (05L) and 11,182 ft (23R), a hard surface, lit, and equipped with ILS. The second parallel runway, 05R/23L, measures 9,987 ft (05R) and 9,986 ft (23L), also hard-surfaced, lit and ILS-equipped. A crosswind runway, 14/32, provides 7,263 ft in each direction, again hard-surfaced, lit and served by ILS. Field elevation is 778 ft.
Indianapolis Tower operates as "Indy Twr" on 120.9 MHz. Ground movement is handled on 121.8 MHz, with clearance delivery on 128.75 MHz. Approach control should be contacted initially on 128.175 MHz, with separate east and west approach frequencies of 127.15 MHz and 124.65 MHz respectively; departure control is similarly split, with 124.95 MHz for traffic departing east and 119.05 MHz for traffic departing west. The ATIS broadcasts on 134.25 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. A remote radio outlet for Terre Haute is listed on 122.55 MHz. All three runways are equipped with ILS.
KIND is a fully controlled Class C field worked by Indianapolis Tower with dedicated ground, clearance delivery, and split east/west approach and departure frequencies, so arriving and departing traffic should expect radar vectoring and sequencing typical of a major hub rather than a traditional visual circuit pattern.
The airport lies seven miles southwest of downtown Indianapolis, whose skyline can serve as a general orientation landmark when approaching from the northeast.
The airport traces its origins to Indianapolis Municipal Airport, which opened on September 24, 1931, replacing the older Stout Field as the city's primary airfield. It was built initially on about 320 acres with a further 627 acres reserved for expansion. In 1944 the field was renamed Weir Cook Municipal Airport in honour of US Army Air Forces Colonel Harvey Weir Cook of Wilkinson, Indiana, a First World War flying ace credited with seven victories who was killed flying a P-39 over New Caledonia during the Second World War. Indianapolis was an early stop on Transcontinental Air Transport's pioneering air/rail transcontinental service linking Los Angeles and New York from 1929; TAT later became Trans World Airlines (TWA), which continued serving the airport until its 2001 merger into American Airlines. Ownership passed to the Indianapolis Airport Authority in 1962, and the field was renamed Indianapolis International Airport in 1976. The original passenger terminal, on the airport's east side, operated from 1957 until 2008 and was expanded several times, including new concourses in 1968 and 1972 and a further expansion in 1987; it was ultimately replaced by the Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal, which opened on November 12, 2008, on a new midfield site between the parallel runways. FedEx Express established its Indianapolis hub in 1988, expanding it substantially in 1998 to make it the second-largest FedEx hub in the world after Memphis. USAir operated a secondary hub at the airport through the late 1980s and 1990s, and locally based ATA Airlines ran a hub through the late 1990s and early 2000s before entering bankruptcy in 2004.
Indianapolis International remains the busiest airport in Indiana and a significant Midwest gateway, connecting more than 50 non-stop destinations across North America, the Caribbean and Europe. It functions as the second-largest FedEx Express hub in the world outside Memphis, and is an operating base for Allegiant Air as well as the headquarters of Republic Airways. The most recently refurbished runway, 05R/23L, was completed in 2024 as part of a wider airfield improvement programme, supported in part by a $26.6 million FAA grant awarded in August of that year. The airport is served by a single passenger terminal with two concourses.
