Departure
91%
vs 95% ▼ 4
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Laconia Municipal Airport is a general aviation field in Gilford, New Hampshire, three miles northeast of downtown Laconia in the Lakes Region beside Lake Winnipesaukee. It has served the area since the Works Progress Administration built the current site in 1941, and today handles everything from training aircraft to private jets visiting the Speedway and lakeside attractions.
Laconia Municipal Airport (KLCI) is a publicly owned general aviation airport in Gilford, New Hampshire, close to Lake Winnipesaukee and the wider Lakes Region. It no longer hosts scheduled passenger service but sees regular private jet traffic thanks to its proximity to the Lake Winnipesaukee area, the Bank of New Hampshire (Meadowbrook) Pavilion and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Two fixed base operators, Emerson Aviation and Sky Bright, are based on the field, making it a practical and interesting destination for a simulated cross-country into the New England lakes country.
The airport lies about three nautical miles northeast of the Laconia central business district, on the Gilford side of the city, adjacent to Lake Winnipesaukee. It is an uncontrolled field with no operating control tower; Boston Approach/Departure provides radar and traffic advisory service in the surrounding airspace. The airport is set within New Hampshire's Lakes Region, with nearby attractions including Castle in the Clouds, the Gunstock Ski Area and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Laconia has two paired physical runways. Runway 08/26 is 5,891 ft (08) and 5,634 ft (26) long, hard-surfaced and lit, with an ILS serving the approach to runway 08. Runway 17/35 is a shorter hard-surfaced, lit crosswind runway of 2,075 ft in each direction.
Boston Approach/Departure can be contacted on 127.35 MHz. The field's AWOS-3 automated weather broadcast is on 133.525 MHz, and clearance delivery is available on 119.85 MHz. Concord Radio (FSS) can be reached on 122.5 MHz, while the CTAF/UNICOM frequency for advisory calls in the Laconia traffic pattern is 123.0 MHz.
Laconia is an uncontrolled airport, so pilots make position calls on the CTAF/UNICOM frequency of 123.0 MHz when inbound, in the pattern, and departing. Traffic patterns for runway 08/26 are flown to the left.
Lake Winnipesaukee immediately adjacent to the airfield is the dominant visual feature for pilots approaching from any direction, and provides an unmistakable landmark for locating the field within the Lakes Region. The New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the Bank of New Hampshire (Meadowbrook) Pavilion, both within a short distance of the airport, are useful secondary references, particularly given the private and charter traffic they generate on event days.
An earlier Laconia Airport was established in 1934 near what is now the O'Shea Industrial Park, but the current airfield in Gilford was built in 1941 with funding from the Works Progress Administration, the City of Laconia and Belknap County. During the Second World War the site served as an emergency landing field and a military training centre, when two runways were constructed. In later decades the airport supported scheduled airline service under the Essential Air Service programme, first with Northeast Express Regional Airlines and later with Skymaster Airlines, which grew its network from Laconia and Boston to include Keene, New Hampshire, Rutland, Vermont, and Newark, New Jersey, using turbine Beech 99 aircraft in place of piston Cessna 421s. Skymaster was eventually sold to form Atlantic North Airlines.
Laconia Municipal Airport is now a general aviation facility owned by the City of Laconia and operated as a self-sufficient public airport, with two fixed base operators, Emerson Aviation and Sky Bright, based on the field. It attracts significant private and charter jet traffic linked to the Lake Winnipesaukee region, the Meadowbrook Pavilion and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, including notable NASCAR race-weekend movements. Several businesses operate from the airport, supporting a mix of training, charter and general aviation activity in the Lakes Region.
