Welke Airport is a privately-owned, public use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

located on Beaver Island in

Charlevoix County, Michigan Charlevoix County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 26,054. The county seat is Charlevoix. History 1840s: surveyed and organized as Keskkauko County Between 1840 and 1841, surveyors Will ...

, United States. Scheduled passenger service to Charlevoix Municipal Airport in

Charlevoix, Michigan Charlevoix ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Charlevoix County. The population was 2,348 at the 2020 census. Charlevoix is mostly surrounded by Charlevoix Township, but the two are administered autonomously ...

, is provided by

Island Airways Island Airways is a small passenger airline based in Charlevoix, Michigan. It provides services to Welke Airport and Charlevoix Municipal Airport. History The airline began in 1945 as McPhillips Flying Service. In 1975, Welke Aviation was sta ...

. As per

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

records, the airport had 16,542 passenger boardings (enplanements) in

calendar year Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days. A year can also be measured by starting on any o ...

2008, 11,976 enplanements in 2009, and 13,558 in 2010.

Facilities and aircraft

Welke Airport covers an area of at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

. It has two

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

s: 9/27 is with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

surface and 17/35 is with a

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricultu ...

surface. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2019, the airport had 13,000 aircraft operations, an average of 36 per day: 42%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

and 58%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

. At that time there were 19 aircraft based at this airport: 12 single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

, 6 multi-engine and 1 helicopter.

operates an FBO at the airport. It offers services such as general maintenance, hangars, and courtesy cars.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Accidents and incidents

*On September 1, 1995, a pilot and his passenger sustained minor injury after a Grumman AA-5 belonging to a small airline named Conrad Aero crashed during an attempted go-around at Welke Airport. The airplane impacted terrain and was destroyed. *On November 14, 2021, a Britten-Norman BN-2A operated by

, crashed at Welke, killing four of the five passengers aboard. The only survivor, an 11-year-old girl, was taken to a hospital in Petoskey.

References

External links

Island Airways
* at Michigan Airport Directory
Aerial image as of May 1999
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to prov ...

'' {{US-airport-minor, 6Y8 Airports in Michigan Buildings and structures in Charlevoix County, Michigan Transportation in Charlevoix County, Michigan