Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Tunica Municipal Airport (KUTA) is a general aviation field on the edge of Tunica, Mississippi, roughly a mile east of the town centre, serving the Tunica casino resort area and the southern fringe of the Memphis metropolitan area. It offers a single long, hard-surfaced runway with an ILS approach, making it a capable diversion or destination for simulator pilots flying light and business aircraft in the Mississippi Delta.
Tunica Municipal Airport is a public-use general aviation airport situated just east of the town of Tunica, Mississippi, within the southern part of the Memphis metropolitan area. It is owned by the Tunica County Airport Commission and grew rapidly from the early 2000s on the back of casino-tax revenue, giving it an unusually long runway and jet-capable infrastructure for a field of its size. For a simulator pilot it offers a straightforward VFR or instrument destination with a single runway, an ILS, and a full-service FBO, set against the backdrop of the Tunica Resorts casino district.
The airport lies about one nautical mile east of the central business district of Tunica, Tunica County, Mississippi, within the wider Memphis metropolitan area. It should not be confused with the smaller, privately owned Ralph M Sharpe Airport (formerly also called Tunica Airport, FAA LID 30M) about two nautical miles south of the town centre.
Tunica Municipal has a single physical runway, 17/35, measuring 8,504 feet and surfaced in hard asphalt with runway lighting. An ILS is available for runway 35, giving instrument approach capability at a field with an otherwise generous, jet-capable strip.
Tunica traffic can be worked on the approach and departure frequency of 119.1 MHz. An AWOS-3 automated weather observation is broadcast on 118.075 MHz. The common traffic advisory frequency and unicom is 123 MHz. The field is equipped with an ILS for runway 35, supporting instrument arrivals in addition to visual operations.
The airport sits immediately east of the town of Tunica, making the built-up casino resort area and the town centre useful visual references when approaching from the west; the field's long runway and hangar development are prominent from the air given its size relative to the surrounding flat Delta terrain.
Tunica Municipal Airport opened in 2003 with a 5,500-foot runway, developed as part of a wider expansion funded by casino-related sales tax revenue following the growth of the Tunica Resorts gaming district into one of the largest gambling destinations in the United States. A $5.6 million project in 2004 extended the runway to 7,000 feet, and in 2005 the airport gained FAA Part 139 certification allowing large jet operations; the first large jet, a 125-passenger Boeing 737 chartered for Harrah's Entertainment, landed in November 2005. Scheduled service began in May 2006 with Boston-Maine Airways, operating as Pan Am Clipper Connection, flying Boeing 727s three times weekly from Atlanta, though this ended later that year when the airline lost its Atlanta routes. Charter traffic continued to grow, exceeding 70,000 passengers by 2008, and Allegiant Air based aircraft at Tunica under contract with Harrah's to serve Tunica, New Orleans, St Louis and Council Bluffs. A $40 million project subsequently extended the runway to its current 8,500 feet and added taxiway and hangar capacity, with a commercial terminal opening in 2011. AirTran Airways ran nonstop Boeing 717 service to Atlanta from May 2010 to May 2011, and Vision Airlines briefly served Destin/Fort Walton Beach from June 2011, but no scheduled commercial service has operated since. Republic Airlines, and later Elite Airways, subsequently ran charter service from Youngstown, Ohio, before ceasing operations. A second 20,000 square foot hangar was completed in 2015, and a 10-bay T-hangar was added in 2021.
Today Tunica Municipal functions primarily as a general aviation airport, with the FBO Tunica Air Center providing services on the field. Facilities include a general aviation terminal, a commercial terminal retained from the airport's scheduled-service era, two 20,000 square foot hangars, a 10-bay T-hangar, and a fire department and training building. In the year to February 2021 the airport recorded around 10,943 aircraft operations, an average of 30 per day, the great majority general aviation, with 24 aircraft based at the field.