Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Ketchikan International Airport (PAKT/KTN) sits on Gravina Island in Southeast Alaska, separated from the town of Ketchikan by the Tongass Narrows and reached only by a short ferry crossing. It offers a single hard-surfaced runway with ILS guidance, set against steep terrain and served by Anchorage Center and local advisory frequencies, making it a distinctive and slightly demanding destination for the visiting VFR or IFR pilot.
Ketchikan International Airport is a state-owned, public-use aerodrome on Gravina Island, across the Tongass Narrows from the city of Ketchikan, Alaska. It is operated by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough under an arrangement with the State of Alaska Division of Aviation. For a simulator pilot the field is notable for its unusual geography: the runway sits on a hillside above the terminal apron, there is no road link to the town, and access to the airport itself is by a short inter-island ferry rather than by car, giving the approach and airfield environment a genuinely remote, island-hopping character typical of Southeast Alaska.
The airport lies on Gravina Island, about one nautical mile west of Ketchikan's central business district, across the Tongass Narrows. Traffic in the area works with Anchorage Center on 118.5 MHz, and the field has its own ATIS and common traffic advisory/flight service frequency. Surrounding terrain and the narrow strait between Gravina and Revillagigedo Islands are the dominant local features a pilot must account for when routing to or from the field.
The airport has a single physical runway, 11/29, oriented northwest-southeast, with a hard, lit surface measuring approximately 7,522-7,523 feet in length. An ILS is available for runway 11. Field elevation is 85 feet.
ATIS is broadcast on 119.9 MHz. Anchorage Center provides area control on 118.5 MHz. The common traffic advisory frequency and flight service frequency are both 123.6 MHz, and UNICOM operates on 122.95 MHz. An ILS serves runway 11, as noted in the runway data above.
The runway is built on a hillside roughly 30 feet higher than the terminal apron below, so aircraft reach either end via long, gently sloped taxiways rather than a level apron-to-runway transition; a taxiway (Bravo) was added in 2004 specifically to ease access to the frequently used runway 11 end, allowing multiple aircraft, up to Boeing 737-900 size, to use the taxiway system simultaneously.
The Tongass Narrows separating Gravina Island from Revillagigedo Island is the principal visual feature for locating the airport, with the city of Ketchikan and its harbour visible across the water from the airfield. The inter-island ferry crossing point is a useful reference for orienting the airport relative to the town.
Before the current airport existed, longer-range land-plane services to Ketchikan, including flights to Seattle, operated via an old military airfield on Annette Island some 20 air miles to the south, using aircraft such as the Grumman Goose and Consolidated PBY Catalina to link with the Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base, and later Douglas DC-4, DC-6 and Boeing 377 Stratocruiser aircraft flown by Pan American World Airways, Lockheed Constellations flown by Pacific Northern Airlines, and Boeing 707 and 720 jets flown by Pan Am and Pacific Northern/Western Airlines. The present airport on Gravina Island was the result of a 1965 study by the Alaska State Division of Aviation, a 1967 site selection, and land clearing in 1969. It opened on 4 August 1973 and was dedicated the following day. Alaska Airlines inaugurated the first jet service from Seattle on the opening day using a Boeing 720, and went on to operate Boeing 727 and 737 variants into the airport for decades. Other carriers that formerly flew jet services into Ketchikan included Wien Air Alaska and MarkAir with Boeing 737s, and Western Airlines with Boeing 727-200s.
Ketchikan International remains state-owned and is operated by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, and is counted among the busiest airports in Alaska. In the twelve months to January 2019 the field recorded around 15,959 aircraft operations, averaging 44 per day, with the mix split roughly 61 percent air taxi, 33 percent scheduled commercial, 4 percent general aviation and under 1 percent military; five aircraft were based there at that time. Access to the airport from the town is by a ferry across the Tongass Narrows, reflecting the field's island location with no direct road connection.