Departure
92%
vs 95% ▼ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Yakutat Airport is a state-owned, public-use airfield on the Gulf of Alaska coast, some 3 nautical miles southeast of the town of Yakutat, a community with no road connection to the rest of Alaska. Its long, hard-surfaced runways and ILS approach make it an important diversion field for the region as well as the gateway for scheduled air service, fishing, glacier tourism and surf trips into this remote corner of the Alaska Panhandle.
Yakutat Airport (ICAO: PAYA, IATA: YAK) is a state-owned, public-use aerodrome serving the City and Borough of Yakutat in southeast Alaska. It began life as a military airfield and has grown into one of the longest-runwayed airports in the state, used today for subsidised scheduled airline service, general aviation, air taxi work and as a diversion airport for the region. For a visiting VFR or IFR pilot it offers unusually generous runway length and an instrument approach in an otherwise wild and remote stretch of coastline.
The airport lies about 3 nautical miles southeast of Yakutat's central business district, on Alaska's Gulf coast. Yakutat itself has no road access to the outside world, so the airport is the community's principal transport link, supplemented by sea access. No specific controlled airspace classification, neighbouring controlled fields or published boundaries are detailed in the available sources.
Yakutat has two physical runways. Runway 11/29 is the longer, at 7,728 to 7,729 feet, hard-surfaced and lit, with an instrument landing system serving Runway 11. Runway 02/20 is a shorter crosswind strip, 4,972 feet on runway 02 and 6,348 feet on runway 20, also hard-surfaced and lit. The field elevation is 33 feet.
An instrument landing system is available for the approach to Runway 11. No published communications frequencies, callsign details or additional navaid information are available in the aeronautical data reviewed.
No specific joining or circuit procedures, circuit heights, or noise abatement instructions are given in the sources reviewed.
Beyond the airport itself, useful visual references in the area include the town of Yakutat close to the airport, nearby glaciers and wildlife-viewing areas, the Situk River fishing corridor, and Alaska's only surf camp, all cited as features of the surrounding area that draw traffic to the field.
Yakutat Airport originated in 1940 as Yakutat Army Airfield, built as part of the United States Army's long-range defense programme for Alaska during the build-up to the Second World War. It later transitioned to civilian state ownership and public use, evolving into the airport that serves Yakutat today.
Yakutat Airport remains a state-owned, public-use airport operated by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. It receives subsidised scheduled passenger service under the Essential Air Service programme, with routes historically operated by Alaska Airlines to Cordova, Juneau and Anchorage, connecting onward to Seattle-Tacoma and other hubs. The airport supports commercial fishing and seafood operations, tourism and recreation, including glacier and wildlife viewing and the Situk River fishing corridor, and it functions as a diversion airport thanks to its long runways, among the longest in the state. An Airport Master Plan Update is under way, addressing matters such as the future of the crosswind runway, aircraft and vehicle parking, hangar and tie-down availability, and utility and obstruction issues; the previous master plan dated from 2006.
