Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Palo Alto Airport (KPAO) is a City of Palo Alto-owned general aviation field on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, tucked between the Baylands Nature Preserve and US Route 101. It offers pilots a single lit hard-surface runway, a control tower, and a lively general aviation community, all set within some of the busiest and most complex airspace in the Bay Area.
Palo Alto Airport sits at the southern end of San Francisco Bay in Palo Alto, California, and is owned and operated by the City of Palo Alto as a general aviation field. It is a popular destination for private and training flights in the South Bay, valued for its proximity to Stanford and the surrounding tech corridor, and it also sees regular use by Angel Flight West missions running to nearby Stanford Hospital and Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. For the visiting sim pilot it is an interesting and demanding approach, sandwiched as it is beneath busy overlying and adjacent controlled airspace.
KPAO lies near the south end of San Francisco Bay's western shore, within half a mile of US Route 101. The airport sits directly beneath San Francisco International's Class B airspace and abuts the Class C airspace associated with San Jose International, making the local airspace picture notably complex for a first-time visitor. Pilots should study the Bay Area charts carefully before arrival given the stacked and adjoining controlled airspace in the vicinity.
The airport has a single physical runway, 13/31, oriented northwest-southeast and surfaced in hard-standing with runway lighting. Runway 13 is 2,655 feet long and Runway 31 is 2,434 feet long, the differing published lengths reflecting the way each threshold is measured. There is no ILS at the field.
Palo Alto Tower operates on 118.6 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF. Ground movement is handled on 125 MHz, and the ATIS broadcasts on 135.275 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. NORCAL Approach and Departure control the surrounding airspace on 133.82 MHz and 121.3 MHz. Runway 31 has a published RNAV (GPS) approach, with a minimum descent altitude of 460 feet and a 1-mile visibility minimum for category A aircraft; there is no ILS at the field.
Palo Alto is a tower-controlled field, and pilots should expect to work Palo Alto Tower on 118.6 MHz for arrival, departure and circuit instructions, with ground movements coordinated on 125 MHz. The City of Palo Alto publishes noise abatement procedures that pilots are asked to follow when operating in and around the airport, given its close residential surroundings. Pilots flying the RNAV approach to Runway 31 should be alert to sink on short final caused by the wetlands just short of that runway's threshold, and to the possibility of opposing wind indications between the two ends of the field as breezes swirl around trees near the adjacent golf course.
The airport is easily identified by its position hard against the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, with the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve and Byxbee Park immediately adjacent, offering a distinctive expanse of tidal wetland and trail network to the north and east. A public golf course lies next to the airport to the west, and US Route 101 runs within half a mile, providing a further linear landmark for pilots inbound from the south or north. Stanford Hospital and the Stanford campus lie a short distance inland and are useful broader references when approaching from the west.
The original Palo Alto Airport was built in the late 1920s adjacent to Stanford Stadium. Between 1934 and 1936 the airport was relocated to its present site along the southern edge of San Francisco Bay, at the north end of Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto, where it has remained ever since.
KPAO remains a self-funding general aviation airport owned and operated by the City of Palo Alto, and is home base for a number of based aircraft and pilots. The field supports flight training and local clubs, including the Palo Alto Flying Club, and hosts community outreach such as an annual Airport Day and Learn to Fly events run through the Palo Alto Airport Association. Fuel is available from truck-based Chevron and Exxon services operating from around 7 AM to dusk, and the airport has a small cafe, aviation supplies, maintenance and oxygen facilities on the field.