Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
New Orleans Lakefront Airport is a general aviation reliever field built on a man-made peninsula jutting into Lake Pontchartrain, on the eastern side of the city. Opened in 1934 as the striking Art Deco Shushan Airport, it remains one of the most architecturally distinctive general aviation fields in the United States and offers a well-equipped set of runways, an ILS approach and full customs facilities for the visiting pilot.
Lakefront Airport sits on a reclaimed peninsula on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, on the east side of New Orleans, and today functions as a busy general aviation reliever airport handling around 200 aircraft movements a day. It is best known among pilots for its restored 1930s Art Deco terminal, its lakeside runways and its role as a base for flight training, charter operators and corporate traffic diverted away from the region's main commercial airport. The combination of history, architecture and straightforward VFR access over open water makes it a rewarding destination for a simulator flight into the New Orleans area.
The airport lies on the east end of the city of New Orleans, in Orleans Parish, roughly five miles northeast of downtown, with Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) about twelve miles to the west. It sits on a man-made arrowhead-shaped peninsula projecting into Lake Pontchartrain, and its proximity to the lake and the low-lying airfield drainage means operations, particularly on runway 18R, can be affected during periods of heavy rain. Approaching or departing traffic works with New Orleans Approach/Departure on the frequencies listed below.
Lakefront Airport has three physical runway pairs. Runway 18R/36L is the longest, at 6,642 feet as runway 18R and 6,051 feet as runway 36L, both hard-surfaced and lit, and it is served by an ILS approach. Runway 18L/36R is 3,696 feet, hard-surfaced and lit in both directions. Runway 09/27 is 3,198 feet, hard-surfaced and lit. Field elevation is 3 feet above mean sea level, and the airport is located at 30.0424, -90.0283.
Lakefront traffic uses New Orleans Approach/Departure on 123.85 MHz. The tower, which also serves as the common traffic advisory frequency outside staffed hours, operates on 118.95 MHz, with ground control on 121.7 MHz and clearance delivery on 127.4 MHz. ATIS is broadcast on 124.9 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. An additional operations frequency, 141.35 MHz, is listed for Army National Guard use, and a remote radio outlet for De Ridder is published on 122.6 MHz. Runway 18R is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
Communication hours for the tower are Monday to Friday 0700 to 1700 local and weekends 0800 to 1500 local, with the airfield itself operating around the clock; outside tower hours pilots should use the 118.95 MHz frequency as a CTAF. Given the airport's position on a narrow lakeside peninsula, arriving pilots should be prepared for a final approach over open water, particularly on runway 18R/36L, and should anticipate possible disruption to operations on 18R during heavy rain.
The airport's most distinctive visual feature is its position on a man-made peninsula extending into Lake Pontchartrain, making the shoreline and the surrounding water an unmistakable landmark on approach. The airport lies close to downtown New Orleans to the southwest and MSY further to the west, and pilots inbound from the south or east will typically be tracking towards the lake before turning onto final for one of the lake-facing runways.
Lakefront Airport was dedicated on 10 February 1934 in conjunction with the Pan American Air Races, opening as Shushan Airport, named for Orleans Levee Board president Abraham Shushan at the behest of Governor Huey P. Long. Built on a peninsula created by driving a 10,000-foot retaining wall into Lake Pontchartrain and pumping in six million cubic yards of hydraulic fill, the airport cost some 4.5 million dollars and was hailed as the world's first combined land and seaplane airport, earning the highest rating then given by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Its terminal was adorned with murals by Xavier Gonzalez and friezes by Enrique Alferez, and amenities of the day included tennis courts, a swimming pool, a post office and a surgical suite. Amelia Earhart stayed overnight at the airport during her travels in the 1930s, an episode the airport still commemorates. Shushan was later indicted on federal charges, and the Levee Board renamed the facility New Orleans Airport and subsequently Lakefront Airport. The opening of Moisant Field (later Louis Armstrong International) in 1946 ended Lakefront's role as the region's main airline airport, and it became a general aviation field; during the Cold War the terminal was encased in plaster, concrete and metal plate and pressed into service as a bomb shelter. Hurricane Katrina struck the airport in August 2005, flooding the terminal with four feet of water and closing the field; operations resumed from sunrise to sunset by October 2005 and around the clock by February 2006. A major restoration, completed in 2013, uncovered and repaired the original Art Deco fabric of the terminal that had been hidden for decades. The airport's history also includes two notable accidents in the vicinity: ammunition manufacturer Joyce Hornady died when his Piper Aztec crashed into Lake Pontchartrain on approach in heavy fog in January 1981, and a U.S. Navy T-34 Mentor crashed into the lake just over a mile from the runway threshold in January 2010 after diverting to Lakefront due to weather.
Lakefront today operates as a full-service general aviation airport around the clock, with fixed-base operators, flight schools, charter and air-taxi operations, aircraft rental, maintenance and avionics support, hangar and tie-down facilities, and U.S. Customs and Agriculture services available for international arrivals. The restored Art Deco terminal, with its murals and period detailing, remains open and is also used for events, airshows and film production alongside its flying operations. Tower communication hours are Monday to Friday 0700 to 1700 and weekends 0800 to 1500 local time, outside of which the field continues to operate using the common frequency. Prior permission may be required for certain operations at the airport.