Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Memphis International Airport (KMEM) is a major civil-military airport in Shelby County, Tennessee, seven miles southeast of downtown Memphis, best known today as the global hub of FedEx Express. It offers four long concrete runways with full ILS coverage, making it a straightforward if busy destination for simulator pilots flying into Class B airspace shared with heavy cargo traffic and Air National Guard operations.
Memphis International Airport is a civil-military field operated by the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, located in Shelby County, Tennessee, seven miles southeast of downtown Memphis. It is best known as the global hub of FedEx Express, one of the busiest cargo operations in the world, and it also hosts limited scheduled passenger service and a resident Air National Guard wing. For a simulator pilot, the field is notable for its scale: four long, hard-surfaced runways, round-the-clock heavy cargo movements, and a mix of airline, military and freighter traffic sharing the same Class B airspace.
Memphis International lies within Class B controlled airspace, reflecting its status as a major commercial and cargo hub, and it sits seven miles southeast of downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee. The airport also handles customs and landing-rights traffic given its international cargo role. The Memphis Air National Guard Base, home to the 164th Airlift Wing and its C-17 Globemaster III transports, is co-located on the airfield.
Memphis International has four physical runways, all concrete, lit and equipped with ILS. The longest, 18C/36C, runs 11,113 feet. Runway 18R/36L extends 9,320 feet, and 18L/36R measures 9,000 feet. The fourth, 09/27, is 8,911 feet long. This combination of long, parallel north-south runways alongside a crosswind runway supports the airport's heavy mix of cargo, airline and military traffic.
Memphis Tower operates on 118.3 MHz, with Ground Control on 121.65 MHz. Approach services are provided on 119.1 MHz and 33.83 MHz, with Departure on 124.15 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 127.75 MHz, and Clearance Delivery is available on 125.2 MHz. UNICOM is on 122.95 MHz. All four runways are served by ILS, supporting instrument approaches in the low-level cloud and haze conditions common to the Mississippi Valley.
Memphis Municipal Airport opened on June 14, 1929, on farmland seven miles from downtown Memphis, marked by a two-day dedication featuring aerial stunts and the arrival of over 200 aircraft. Runway lighting was added in 1930 after an aircraft mistakenly landed in the Mississippi River while searching for the field at night. During the Second World War the airfield was leased to the War Department, and from December 1942 it served as headquarters for the 4th Ferrying Group of the Army Air Forces Air Transport Command, which sent newly built aircraft overseas via South America and the South Atlantic and briefly headquartered the Continental Division of the Air Transport Command in 1946. The airport opened the first dedicated air-cargo terminal in the United States in 1958, and Delta Air Lines introduced the city's first scheduled jet service, using Convair 880s, in August 1960. A new jet-age terminal was dedicated in June 1963, when the field was renamed Memphis Metropolitan Airport, and in 1969 the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority was formed and the airport took its current name after being designated a customs port of entry. Federal Express established its main hub at the airport in 1973, and the field also functioned as a passenger hub from 1985 to 2013, first under Republic Airlines and then Northwest Airlines following its 1986 merger, with Northwest later combining with Delta Air Lines in 2008. Memphis became the world's busiest cargo airport in 1992, a position it held for close to two decades.
Memphis International remains the global hub of FedEx Express, with nonstop freighter routes reaching across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and South America, and it continues to rank among the busiest cargo airports in the world. Passenger operations, now consolidated into a single terminal after the airport was downsized from three concourses, average more than 80 flights a day. The field also hosts the Memphis Air National Guard Base, home to the 164th Airlift Wing and its C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, alongside the civilian cargo and passenger operations.
