Fairbanks International Airport
Fairbanks International Airport diagram. US FAA image.
IATA: FAI – ICAO: PAFA – FAA LID: FAI
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		State of Alaska DOT&PF
Location		Fairbanks, Alaska
Elevation AMSL		434 ft / 132 m
Coordinates		64°48′54″N 147°51′23″W / 64.815°N 147.85639°W / 64.815; -147.85639
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
2L/20R	11,800	3,597	Asphalt
2R/20L	6,500	1,981	Asphalt
SKI 2/20	2,900	884	Gravel
2W/20W	5,400	1,646	Water
Statistics (1996/2007)
Aircraft operations			133,267
Based aircraft			482
Passengers			898,000 (2007)
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Fairbanks International Airport (IATA: FAI, ICAO: PAFA, FAA LID: FAI) is a state-owned public-use airport located three miles (5 km) southwest of the central business district of Fairbanks, a city in the Fairbanks North Star Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska.

The airport serves many cargo airlines as a convenient refueling stop for some aircraft on trans-polar routes. FAI is served by a limited number of passenger airlines. Era Aviation and Alaska Airlines serve the airport year-round, while Delta Air Lines and Frontier Airlines serve FAI during the summer. Fairbanks is the smallest city in the United States with non-stop service to Europe, as Condor Airlines offers weekly flights to Frankfurt during the summer tourist season.

Recently, the airport constructed a new terminal and demolished the old one. The new terminal is built around the modern TSA standards. In addition to architectural design and better security, the main terminal now has six jet-bridges (up from the former five).. The new building's footprint is smaller than the old building, and it no longer has the museum exhibits in the lobby.

Facilities and aircraft

Fairbanks International Airport covers an area of 3,470 acres (1,404 ha) which contains three runways and one seaplane landing area:

• Runway 2L/20R: 11,800 x 150 ft (3,597 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
• Runway 2R/20L: 6,500 x 100 ft (1,981 x 30 m), Surface: Asphalt
• Runway SKI 2/20: 2,900 x 75 ft (884 x 23 m), Surface: Gravel
• Runway 2W/20W: 5,400 x 100 ft (1,646 x 30 m), Surface: Water

For the 12-month period ending August 28, 1996, the airport had 133,267 aircraft operations, an average of 365 per day: 68% general aviation, 18% air taxi, 12% scheduled commercial and 2% military. There are 482 aircraft based at this airport: 89% single engine, 9% multi-engine and 2% helicopters.

Airlines

The terminal building, situated on the southwest side of the airport, contains seven gates: two for commuter carriers and five for larger carriers. These gates are allocated as follows:

• Gate A: Era Alaska, 40 Mile Air
• Gate B: Era Alaska, 40 Mile Air
• Gate 1: Alaska Airlines
• Gate 2: Alaska Airlines

• Gate 4: Seasonal
• Gate 5: Frontier Airlines
• Gate 6: Seasonal/Int'l

Passenger airlines and destinations

Cargo airlines

• 40-Mile Air
• Air Cargo Express
• Air Central Express
• Air North
• Alaska Central Express
• Cargolux [fuel stop]
• Everts Air Cargo
• Northern Air Cargo
• Servant Air
• Tanana Air Service
• Tatonduk Flying Service
• Wright Air Service

Charter airlines

• Condor Airlines
• Evert's Air Alaska
• JAL
• Larry's Flying Service
• TEMSCO Helicopters,Arctic Division
• Thomas Cook Airlines
• Warbelow's Air Ventures

Fairbanks International Airport (FAI)

Fairbanks International Airport, known as the Gateway to the Interior, is located close to downtown Fairbanks, AK. Early aviators in the Alaskan Territory frequently made do without proper landing strips, putting their airplanes down wherever there was a flat and clear patch of land. These days, Fairbanks’ modern facilities make flying to the Alaskan interior an easier proposition. Cargo flights at the airport outnumber passenger flights, but a handful of passenger airlines and seasonal charter services are available. Alaska Airlines offers year-round daily direct flights to locations in Alaska and the Lower 48, and several regional airlines provide service to Anchorage and interior rural communities like Deadhorse and Prospect Creek. Also, Thomas Cook Tours charters Condor, Germany's largest leisure-oriented airline, to provide weekly summer service between Fairbanks and Frankfurt.

Airport history

Early aviators in the Alaskan Territory frequently made do without prepared landing strips, putting their airplane down wherever air transportation was required. Aviation service in the Fairbanks area was initiated at an airfield known as Weeks Field, or Weeks Ball Park, in 1923. This multi-use facility gained importance in the community and throughout the Alaska aviation system from the time that Carl Ben Eielson first flew into Fairbanks in 1923 to start Alaskan Airways. A majority of the area's general aviation and commercial air traffic was accommodated here through mid-century, though air carrier aircraft used Ladd Air Force Base, today referred to as Fort Wainwright. Plans coalesced in 1948 for development of a new facility - Fairbanks International Airport. Construction was authorized by Congress that year. Operations were shifted to the new airport in 1951, though minimal facilities and no terminal building were then available. Air carriers used temporary structures until completion of the passenger terminal building in 1954.

This site, still held today, is located approximately four miles west from the urban center of Fairbanks, just north of the confluence of the Chena and Tanana Rivers. Weeks Field is now a residential area.

The airport was under the charge of the federal government from its opening until Alaska was granted statehood in 1959. Ownership and responsibility for operation were then transferred to the State of Alaska, Department of Public Works, then to the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, under whose charge the facility remains today.

Development at the airport in past decades has been commensurate with growth in the community. Two notable traffic increases has occurred. First, a surge in passenger and enplaned cargo volumes and corresponding aircraft operations occurred in the years 1974 through 1977, the time when the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was under construction. Second, traffic at the airport changed in character as international air cargo flights began refueling at Fairbanks in 1979. Japan Airlines and Korean Airlines began service stops on cargo flights in May of that year. Fairbanks became an attractive option because of fuel availability. Use of Boeing 747, McDonnell Douglas DC-10, and McDonnell Douglas DC-8 all-cargo aircraft by these carriers changed the nature of operations at the airport. These larger, heavier aircraft place a greater demand on the infrastructure of the airport. Scheduled international service was discontinued in the spring of 1984, but regularly scheduled service resumed in September of 1990 with the introduction of Lufthansa Cargo to the airport.

Notable facility developments have occurred on the air side and land side in the last three decades. The greatest capacity improvements came with the construction in 1971 of a general aviation (GA) runway, 1R-19L, parallel to the air carrier runway, and a major passenger terminal expansion in 1984. More recently, in 1996 and 1997 the main air carrier runway was lengthened to 11,800 feet to allow wide body freighter aircraft to takeoff from FAI with unrestricted payloads during virtually all weather conditions. In 2002 the GA runway was lengthened to 6,500 feet and widened to 100 feet to accommodate larger aircraft, and the float pond expanded to add 45 new slips.

Runway Information

Runway 01/19

Runway 01L/19R

Runway 01R/19L

Runway 01W/19W

Radio Navigation Aids

Remarks

• WEST RAMP CLSD NORTH TWY BRAVO FOR ACFT OVER 55,000 LBS.
• BE ALERT FOR SNOW REMOVAL EQUIPMENT OPNS FM 1 OCT TO 15 MAY.
• MILITARY CONTRACT FUEL AVBL.
• BE ALERT: BLASTING AT 1500 MON-FRI 1 NM RADIUS OF 65 03N 147 37W OF TRUE NORTH MINE (2 NM NW OF PEDRO DOME) 1500 FT & BLO.
• FOR AVBLTY OF SKI STRIP RY 01/19 CONSULT LOCAL NOTAMS & CTC ATCT PRIOR TO ARR/DEP.
• TSNT PARKING ACFT 18,000 LBS & BLO (NO JET ACFT) EAST RAMP, LMTD TSNT ACFT PARKING ON W RAMP, ROW 'A' POINTED S, CTC ARPT OPS 907-474-2530 FOR INFORMATION.
• FOR FLIGHTS IN MOA'S EAST OF FAIRBANKS RECOMMEND CONTACTING EIELSON RANGR CONTROL ON 125.3 OR CALL 1-800-758-8723 FOR INFORMATION ON MILITARY ACTIVITES.
• NOISE ABATEMENT PROCEDURES IN EFECT FM 2200-0800 ALL LARGE ACFT, TURBINE ENGINE, AND HEAVY ACFT UTILIZE RY 01L FOR ARRS AND 19R FOR DEPS WHEN WIND IS NOT AN OPERATIOINAL FACTOR.
• COMPASS ROSE LCTD ON NE ELEPHANT EAR & NW CARGO RAMP.
• BE ALERT; MAJOR TWY CONST WEST OF RY 01L/19R, APR THRU OCT. CHECK NOTAMS FOR CURRENT INFORMATION ON TWY ROUTES.
• RY 01R/19L CLSD TO JET ACFT.
• MIGRATORY BIRDS INVOF ARPT DURING SPRING THRU FALL.
• N/S TWY WEST AND PARALLEL RWY 01L/19R, USE CTN TO AVOID LNDG ON TWY.
• ATCT LOCATED AT 64-48-39.438N 147-50-55.722W ELEVATION 538' MSL.
• SPB CONTROLLED BY FAIRBANKS INTL ATCT. CTC ATCT ON FREQ 118.3 AS SOON AS PRACTICAL AFTER START UP FOR TAXI ON THE POND. FLOAT POND TFC AS ASSIGNED BY FAIRBANKS ATCT. LIMITED TRANSIENT FLOAT PLANE PARKING AVBL, CTC OPNS 907-474-2530 FOR INFORMATION. SFX FROZEN IN WINTER, NOT MONT, AIR OPNS NOT RCMDD.
• TWY G UNAVBL TO AIRCRAFT 250000 LBS AND OVER.

Based Aircraft

Major Carriers Serving This Airport

Most Popular Destinations

Most Popular Aircraft

Operational Statistics

Fairbanks International Airport

Address: Fairbanks County, AK

Tel: 907-474-2500

E-mail: fai_marketing@dot.state.ak.us

URL: http://www.dot.state.ak.us/faiiap/index.shtml

Images and information placed above are from
http://www.airport-data.com/airport/FAI/

http://www.dot.state.ak.us/faiiap/index.shtml

www.tailwinds.org/ alaska/prelim.html

We thank them for the data!

General Info
Country	United States
State	ALASKA
FAA ID	FAI
Latitude	64-48-54.411N
Longitude	147-51-22.562W
Elevation	434 feet
Near City	FAIRBANKS