Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Blue Grass Airport (KLEX) is the primary airport serving central and eastern Kentucky, sited among horse farms six miles west of downtown Lexington and directly across from Keeneland Race Course. It offers a long ILS-equipped main runway alongside a shorter crosswind strip, within Class C airspace under Lexington Approach control, making it a useful and visually distinctive VFR and IFR destination for simulator pilots.
Blue Grass Airport is a public airport in Fayette County, Kentucky, owned by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Board and serving as the principal aviation gateway for central and eastern Kentucky. It sits among the region's famous horse farms, directly across from Keeneland Race Course, and combines a busy commercial schedule with general aviation, corporate, and charter operations. The field is also home to the Aviation Museum of Kentucky and was noted as the fictional destination of Auric Goldfinger's aircraft in the James Bond film Goldfinger.
Blue Grass Airport lies within Class C airspace, six miles west of downtown Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky. Traffic in the vicinity is worked by Lexington Approach/Departure, and pilots should expect to establish two-way radio contact before entering the surrounding controlled airspace. A prominent nearby landmark is Keeneland Race Course, situated directly across from the airfield.
The airport has two physical runways. Runway 04/22 is 6,996 feet long with a hard, lit surface and is served by an ILS approach. Runway 09/27 is 3,989 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit, providing a shorter crosswind option.
Lexington Approach/Departure operates on 120.15 MHz. The airport ATIS broadcasts on 126.3 MHz, with Clearance Delivery on 132.35 MHz and Ground on 121.9 MHz. Lexington Tower controls the field on 119.1 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. An ILS approach is provided for runway 04/22.
As Class C airspace, arriving aircraft must establish two-way radio communication with Lexington Approach before entering the airport's controlled airspace, with circuit and pattern instructions issued by Lexington Tower on 119.1 MHz once inbound.
Keeneland Race Course, immediately across from the airfield, is a highly recognisable visual reference for locating and joining Blue Grass Airport, set amid the horse farm country that surrounds the field on the western edge of Lexington.
Blue Grass Airport began as a municipal airfield developed in 1933 with assistance from the Federal Civil Works Administration as part of a state-wide airport development policy. In August 2010 a new 4,000-foot runway, 9/27, opened to replace the earlier 3,500-foot runway 8/26, which had overlapped runway 22. The former runway was removed following a 2006 Delta Connection accident in which the crew attempted takeoff from the wrong, shorter runway, resulting in the loss of all aboard except the co-pilot. A further accident occurred in March 2009, when a Cessna 182 crashed three miles west of the airport after the pilot became disoriented in instrument conditions following an apparent electrical failure.
Beyond its scheduled airline services, Blue Grass Airport supports an active general aviation and corporate sector, with a dedicated general aviation terminal, U.S. Customs facilities, charter operations, aircraft maintenance, hangars, and flight instruction. The airfield is also home to the Aviation Museum of Kentucky, which displays restored aircraft and aviation memorabilia.
