Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Lakeland Linder International Airport lies five miles southwest of Lakeland, Florida, roughly midway between Tampa and Orlando along the I-4 corridor. Once a World War II training base known as Drane Field, it is now a busy general-aviation reliever for Tampa International that also hosts scheduled airline service, an Amazon Air cargo hub and the annual Sun 'n Fun Aerospace Expo. With a long ILS-equipped main runway and a full range of based operations from flight training to fighter jets, it offers plenty of interest for a visiting VFR pilot.
Lakeland Linder International Airport serves Lakeland, Florida, and is owned and operated by the City of Lakeland. It sits in Polk County and functions as a national reliever facility for Tampa International Airport, handling a mix of general aviation, flight training, cargo and airline traffic. The field is also the operating base for Avelo Airlines and hosts the Sun 'n Fun Aerospace Expo each spring, one of the largest fly-in and airshow events in the United States, which makes it a distinctive destination for a simulator pilot.
The airport lies about five miles southwest of the city of Lakeland, Polk County, Florida, along the I-4 corridor midway between Tampa and Orlando. It operates within the Tampa terminal area, with approach and departure services provided on 119.9 MHz. Tampa International Airport, for which Lakeland Linder serves as a reliever field, lies to the west.
Lakeland Linder has two paved runway pairs. The main runway, 10/28, is 8,477 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with an ILS on runway 10. The secondary runway, 05/23, is 4,989 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit. Field elevation is 131 feet.
Tampa Approach/Departure can be reached on 119.9 MHz. The airport's ATIS broadcasts on 118.025 MHz. The tower and CTAF frequency is 124.5 MHz, with ground control on 121.4 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz, and a St Petersburg radio outlet operates on 116 MHz. The airport has an ILS approach to runway 10, and holds a CAT III Instrument Landing System, one of only four such installations in Florida.
The airfield originated as Lakeland Municipal Airport No. 2, built to replace the city's original 1933-34 airport, and was named Drane Field in honour of Herbert J. Drane, a prominent local citizen. With war looming in 1940 the city leased the site to the War Department, and the Army Corps of Engineers improved the runways and built a training facility, initially as a sub-base of MacDill Field, known as Lakeland Army Air Field. Thousands of US Army Air Forces pilots, navigators, bombardiers and flight crew trained there during the Second World War, primarily on the North American B-26 Marauder. After the war the base lay largely unused until it was rededicated as Lakeland Municipal Airport in 1960. The field was renamed Lakeland Regional Airport in the 1970s and Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in the late 1980s, honouring local businessman Paul Scott Linder, founder of Linder Industrial Machinery, who died in November 1990. In November 2017 the airport opened its first US Customs and Border Protection General Aviation Facility, permitting international arrivals of aircraft with 20 or fewer passengers under an approved overflight permit, and the field subsequently took the name Lakeland Linder International Airport. Amazon Air began operations at the airport on 23 July 2020 following completion of a large cargo processing facility, and Avelo Airlines announced in December 2023 that it would begin commercial service from the field in spring 2024.
Lakeland Linder is a diverse and busy general aviation field, home to more than 65 businesses and organisations including flight schools, the NOAA Hurricane Hunters, and Department of Defense contractor Draken International, alongside Amazon Air's cargo operation and Avelo Airlines' scheduled passenger flights. Fixed base operator facilities at the field, such as Aero Center Lakeland, provide 100LL and Jet A fuel, hangar and ramp space, and other pilot services. The airport hosts the annual Sun 'n Fun Aerospace Expo each spring, a major fly-in, airshow and aviation convention that draws large numbers of visiting aircraft.
