Departure
99%
vs 95% ▲ 4
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (KVPS) is a joint-use military and commercial airport located within Eglin Air Force Base in Okaloosa County, Florida, adjacent to Valparaiso and near Destin and Fort Walton Beach. It possesses two long, hard-surfaced runways, one with an ILS, but access is restricted to commercial air traffic, with general aviation directed to nearby Destin Executive Airport instead.
Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport sits within the boundary of Eglin Air Force Base, sharing its runways with the base and serving as the commercial gateway for the Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Valparaiso area of Florida's Panhandle. It is a joint-use military and civilian field, home to an Allegiant Air operating base, and the airport is notable to pilots chiefly for the fact that only commercial air traffic is permitted to use it; non-commercial general aviation and business aircraft are required to use the nearby Destin Executive Airport instead.
The airport lies within Eglin Air Force Base, adjacent to the city of Valparaiso and roughly 16 miles from Destin, in Okaloosa County on the Florida Panhandle. Given its co-location with an active Air Force base and its joint military/commercial use, the surrounding airspace is controlled and shared with military traffic.
The airfield has two physical runways. Runway 12/30 is 11,985 feet long, hard-surfaced and lit, with an ILS serving runway 30. Runway 01/19 is 10,001 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit. Field elevation is 59 feet.
Radio services at the airport include Tower on 118.2 MHz, Ground/Clearance Delivery on 121.8 MHz, and ATIS on 134.625 MHz. Additional published frequencies include A/D on 125.1 MHz, CLD on 127.7 MHz, PMSV (Metro) on 34.25 MHz, POST (Command Post) on 31.805 MHz, and PTD on 139.3 MHz. The field is equipped with an ILS approach to runway 30.
Only commercial air traffic is permitted to operate at Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport; general aviation and business aircraft wishing to fly in the area should plan to use the nearby Destin Executive Airport instead, as non-commercial operations are not accommodated here.
The airport originated in 1957 as the Okaloosa County Air Terminal, opening on Eglin Air Force Base with a staff of just three. Southern Airways was the first airline to serve the field, operating Douglas DC-3s to Atlanta, later upgrading to Martin 404 propliners. In 1967 Southern Airways brought the first jet service to the airport with the Douglas DC-9-10, and by 1968 the airline was flying daily nonstop DC-9 services to Atlanta and New Orleans, plus through flights to New York LaGuardia and Washington Dulles via Dothan and Columbus. A new terminal building, the James E. Plew Terminal, opened in February 1975 at a cost of 1.7 million dollars, with Southern Airways as the sole carrier operating twelve daily departures. Commuter carrier South Central Air Transport added services in 1977 using Handley Page Jetstream propjets. Southern Airways merged with North Central Airlines in 1979 to form Republic Airlines, which expanded nonstop jet service to numerous cities including Chicago O'Hare, New York LaGuardia and Washington Dulles. Through the 1980s, Delta Connection and Eastern Metro Express added turboprop services to Atlanta, while commuter carrier Air New Orleans served destinations including Birmingham, Mobile, New Orleans, Orlando, Panama City, Pensacola and Tampa. Northwest Airlines inherited Republic's Memphis route following their 1986 merger, operating up to four daily DC-9 flights to that hub. The airport later took on jet service from ValuJet/AirTran in the 1990s, and was renamed Okaloosa Regional Airport, then Northwest Florida Regional Airport, before adopting its present name of Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport in February 2015.
The airport continues to operate as a joint military and commercial facility within Eglin Air Force Base, serving as an operating base for Allegiant Air, with JetBlue announced to begin seasonal service from March 2026. Only commercial air traffic is permitted to use the field, so simulator pilots planning general aviation flights to the area should route instead to Destin Executive Airport nearby.