Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Merrill Field is a busy general-aviation airport a mile east of downtown Anchorage, Alaska, and was the city's original airfield before Ted Stevens Anchorage International opened in 1951. Today it remains one of the state's busiest fields for light wheel- and ski-equipped aircraft, with a control tower, several flight schools and round-the-clock fuel.
Merrill Field is a public-use general aviation airport located about a mile east of downtown Anchorage, Alaska, owned by the Municipality of Anchorage. It was Anchorage's first airport, and remains an important training and light-aircraft base today, with a reputation as one of the busiest general aviation fields in the state. For a simulator pilot it offers an interesting mix of a towered Class D circuit, three differently oriented runways, and a slice of Alaskan aviation history right on the edge of the city.
Merrill Field sits within Class D airspace extending up to 2,500 feet above mean sea level while the tower is in operation; outside tower hours the airspace reverts to Class E and the tower frequency is used as the CTAF. The field lies one mile east of downtown Anchorage, at the east end of Fifth Avenue, and is close enough to the city that Alaska Regional Hospital is served directly from the airfield via a taxiway extension used for MEDEVAC flights. Anchorage Approach/Departure provides the surrounding terminal control service on 119.1 MHz.
Merrill Field has three physical runways. Runway 07/25 is 3,991 feet long, hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 16/34 is 2,630 feet long, hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 05/23 is 1,998 feet long and hard-surfaced, without lighting recorded. Wikipedia notes that airfield construction between June and August 2025 renumbered the long east-west runway from 7/25 to 8/26 and renewed its lighting, though the field's identifiers as listed in current aeronautical data remain 07/25; the associated REILs and PAPIs were reported as not yet operational as of November 2025.
Merrill Tower operates on 126 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF outside tower hours. ATIS is broadcast on 124.25 MHz, with ground control on 121.7 MHz and Anchorage Approach/Departure on 119.1 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz, and Kenai Radio provides flight service on 122.2 MHz (FSS) and 122.3 MHz (RFSS). There is no ILS at the field. A VOR test facility (VOT) is available on 111.0 MHz and operates continuously, useful for checking VOR receiver accuracy before departure.
Merrill Field operates two traffic patterns. Runways 8/26 and 34 use left-hand traffic, while runways 26's reciprocal (8) and 16 use right-hand traffic, with the eastern runway pair flown left-hand for 26 and 34 and right-hand for 8 and 16. Traffic pattern altitude is 900 feet MSL for aircraft operating below 105 knots and 1,200 feet MSL for those above that speed. Specific departure, arrival and pattern-entry procedures are published in the notices section of the Alaska Chart Supplement.
The airfield lies immediately east of downtown Anchorage along Fifth Avenue, making the city centre and coastline a ready landmark for inbound traffic. A taxiway extension links the airport directly to Alaska Regional Hospital, another useful ground reference near the field boundary.
Merrill Field began as a 35-acre site completed on 22 August 1929 one mile east of Anchorage, opening in 1930 as Anchorage Aviation Field before being renamed Anchorage Municipal Airport and finally Merrill Field, honouring Alaskan aviation pioneer Russel Merrill. An aerodrome beacon at the field was dedicated in his name on 25 September 1932. It served as Anchorage's only airport until 1951, when the introduction of larger, faster commercial aircraft prompted the construction of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Merrill Field's original control tower operated for roughly four decades before a taller replacement was built on the opposite side of the east-west runway near Fifth Avenue. In February 2013 a retired Boeing 727, donated by FedEx and used as a training aid by the University of Alaska Anchorage's Aviation Technology Division, landed at the field under special permission after preparatory surveys of the runway and infrastructure; it remains the largest aircraft ever to have landed there and is not airworthy.
Merrill Field is a towered airport with normal tower hours from 7 AM to 10 PM; aircraft may still operate outside these hours using the CTAF. The airfield hosts five flight schools, air taxi operators and fixed-base operators, alongside the University of Alaska Anchorage's Aviation Technology Center. Both 100LL and Jet A fuel are available 24 hours a day. The field remains the primary base for private wheel-equipped aircraft in warmer months and for ski-equipped aircraft in winter. A section of the airport is built over a former municipal landfill, which requires additional maintenance due to ground settling. Recent construction work in 2025 renewed airfield lighting and the beacon, though as of November 2025 some new runway lighting aids were not yet operational.