Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
St. Louis Lambert International Airport is the primary airport serving St. Louis, Missouri, sitting some 14 miles northwest of downtown between Berkeley and Bridgeton. A large, ILS-equipped Class B field with four parallel and crossing hard runways, it is historically significant as the birthplace of Charles Lindbergh's flying career and a former hub of Trans World Airlines, making it a rewarding but demanding destination for a simulator pilot flying into busy airline traffic.
St. Louis Lambert International Airport (KSTL/STL) is the main commercial airport for the St. Louis metropolitan area, operated by the City of St. Louis. Named for Albert Bond Lambert, an Olympic silver medallist golfer, Listerine manufacturer and St. Louis's first licensed pilot, the field has a long aviation pedigree stretching back to the earliest days of powered flight in the region. For a sim pilot it offers a large Class B airport experience with multiple long parallel runways, heavy scheduled traffic and a rich history tied to Lindbergh and TWA.
The airport lies in unincorporated St. Louis County between the municipalities of Berkeley and Bridgeton, about 14 miles northwest of downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It sits within Class B airspace given its status as a large international airport with substantial scheduled air carrier operations, and it is the busiest airport in the state of Missouri. MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, the region's secondary commercial field, lies roughly 37 miles to the east.
Lambert has four physical runway pairs, all hard-surfaced and lit, each served by an ILS. Runway 12R/30L is the longest, with declared distances of 10,801 feet on runway 30L and 10,543 feet on runway 12R. Runway 12L/30R measures 9,015 feet in both directions. Runway 11/29 measures approximately 9,000 feet, with 8,991 feet declared for runway 11 and 8,992 feet for runway 29. Runway 06/24 is the shortest, at 7,604 feet on runway 06 and 7,603 feet on runway 24. The runway layout consists of three staggered parallel runways - 12L/30R, 12R/30L and 11/29 - with runway 06/24 crossing runway 12R/30L.
St. Louis Approach handles arrivals on 120.05 MHz, with a secondary South/West approach frequency on 121.025 MHz and a further secondary approach frequency on 123.7 MHz. Departures are split by area, with St. Louis Departure on 119.15 MHz for the north/east and 128.1 MHz for the south/west. ATIS is broadcast on 125.025 MHz. Clearance delivery operates on 119.5 MHz. Ground movement is split by runway and direction: 118.925 MHz serves runway 11-29, 121.65 MHz is Saint Louis Ground for outbound traffic and 121.9 MHz for inbound traffic. Tower frequencies are also runway-specific: 118.5 MHz for runway 12R-30L, 120.05 MHz for runway 12L-30R, and 132.475 MHz for runway 06 and runway 11-29. Radio operator communications use 122.05 MHz, and UNICOM is on 122.95 MHz. The airport is equipped with ILS approaches to all four runway directions.
The airport's origins trace back to 1909, when the Aero Club of St. Louis established a balloon launching base known as the Permanent Aviation Field and Dirigible Harbor in Kinloch Park. In October 1910 the site, generally called Kinloch Field, hosted the first International Air Meet, drawing the Wright brothers and their exhibition team, and President Theodore Roosevelt took off from the field with pilot Arch Hoxsey on October 11, becoming the first serving US president to fly. In 1911 the field was the launch point for what is generally regarded as the first parachute jump from an airplane. The lease expired in 1912 and the field closed, but in June 1920 a nearby 170-acre site was leased by the Missouri Aeronautical Society and named the St. Louis Flying Field. Albert Bond Lambert, an Olympic silver medallist golfer and the first person to hold a pilot's licence in St. Louis, was a leading figure in the Society, and the field was renamed Lambert-St. Louis Flying Field in 1923 in recognition of his efforts. Lambert bought the field outright in February 1925 and added hangars and a passenger terminal. In the late 1920s the airport became the site of the first air traffic control system, using hand-held flags to communicate with pilots, with Archie League serving as the first controller. Charles Lindbergh flew his first piloting job, carrying airmail for Robertson Aircraft Corporation, from the field, and he stopped there during his cross-country flight from San Diego to New York about a week before his famous transatlantic flight to Paris in 1927. The City of St. Louis leased the airport in February 1928 for one million dollars, and later that year purchased it outright following a two million dollar bond issue, making it one of the first municipally owned airports in the United States. From 1925 the airfield was also home to Naval Air Station St. Louis, which became an active-duty installation during the Second World War. In 1930 the airport was officially christened Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Airport by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, and its first terminal building opened in 1933, with Robertson Air Lines, Marquette Airlines, Eastern Air Lines and Transcontinental & Western Air (later TWA) all serving the field within the decade. A 1942 bond issue funded an 867-acre expansion and a new terminal, and during the war the airport became a manufacturing base for the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation and Curtiss-Wright. After the war, Naval Air Station St. Louis reverted to a reserve installation before closing in 1958, with most of its facilities passing to the Missouri Air National Guard. The distinctive three-domed terminal, designed by Minoru Yamasaki and completed in 1956, influenced later terminal designs at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. A fourth dome was added in 1965, and the airport served as the primary hub of Trans World Airlines for much of the twentieth century as well as a hub for Ozark Air Lines. The first scheduled jet service, a TWA Boeing 707 to New York, departed in July 1959, and the airport was renamed Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in 1971.
St. Louis Lambert International Airport remains the largest and busiest airport in Missouri, providing nonstop service to more than 80 destinations across the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe, and handling nearly 16 million passengers in 2024. Southwest Airlines is the dominant carrier, accounting for the majority of the airport's annual passenger traffic. The field is a home base for several general aviation pilots. Given its scale and the density of scheduled airline traffic, prior permission is generally required for general aviation and simulator pilots planning to operate into Lambert.