Departure
95%
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MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Williamsport Regional Airport (KIPT) serves the city of Williamsport in north-central Pennsylvania's Lycoming County, sitting a few miles east of the city near Montoursville. It offers a long ILS-equipped main runway alongside a shorter crosswind strip, a control tower, and a history stretching back to 1929, making it a useful and historically interesting stop for a VFR cross-country in the sim.
Williamsport Regional Airport lies in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, close to the city of Williamsport and the borough of Montoursville. It is a public airport owned by the Williamsport Municipal Airport Authority and has provided scheduled and general aviation services to north central Pennsylvania since 1929. For a simulator pilot it offers an interesting mix: a towered field with an ILS approach on its main runway, a shorter secondary runway, a small commercial operation, and a long and varied aviation history including a notable glider world record set from the airfield.
The airport is located roughly five miles east of central Williamsport, in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, near the borough of Montoursville. It is a towered field, with ground and tower services provided on published frequencies, sitting within the surrounding en-route airspace served by New York Center.
Williamsport Regional Airport has two physical runways. Runway 09/27 is 6,807 feet long with a hard surface and runway lighting; runway 27 is equipped with an ILS approach. Runway 12/30 is 4,269 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit. Field elevation is 522 feet.
The airport is served by tower and CTAF on 119.1 MHz, with ground control on 121.9 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz, and a remote radio outlet (RDO) operates on 122.2 MHz. Clearance delivery and New York Center services are provided on 124.9 MHz, and automated weather is broadcast on the ASOS frequency of 125.225 MHz. Runway 27 offers an ILS approach for instrument arrivals.
The airport's origins trace to 1928, when the Williamsport Civil Aviation Authority sought a site for an airport near the city. With backing from the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Williamsport, the airport company sold shares of stock to raise about $75,000, enough to purchase 161 acres of farmland in Montoursville, and was granted a charter later that year. Scheduled airline service began in 1946 with Trans World Airlines and Pennsylvania Central Airlines (a predecessor of Capital Airlines), joined in 1949 by All American Aviation, forerunner of Allegheny Airlines. Over subsequent decades the field saw service from Capital Airlines, United Airlines, Allegheny Airlines and its Allegheny Commuter operation, and later USAir and US Airways Express, connecting Williamsport to cities including Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, Washington and Buffalo at various times. On April 25, 1993, glider pilot Thomas L. Knauff set an FAI world record for an out-and-return flight of 1,646.68 km, releasing from tow over the airport before flying along the Appalachian Mountains to Corryton, Tennessee, and returning after ten hours; the record stood for nearly twenty years. In December 2015 a Porter Airlines flight from Toronto to Washington Dulles diverted to Williamsport after reports of smoke in the cabin, landing safely with all 66 people aboard accounted for.
Williamsport Regional Airport continues to handle general aviation and limited scheduled airline traffic. Southern Airways Express began operating Cessna Caravan service to Washington Dulles International Airport from the field in May 2024, restoring commercial passenger service after a gap since 2021. General aviation services are provided by the fixed-base operator Energy Aviation LLC, which also operates the airport's terminal facilities. The field has around fifty based aircraft and handles roughly 24,000 aircraft operations a year. The Williamsport Regional Association of Pilots holds an annual fly-in at the airport each June.
