Class B is a class of airspace in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

which follows

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

(ICAO) airspace designation. Class B airspace areas are designed to improve aviation safety by reducing the risk of midair collisions in the airspace surrounding airports with high-density air traffic operations.FAA Order JO 7400.2L, Procedures for Handling Airspace Matters
effective 2017-10-12 (with changes), accessed 2017-12-04 Aircraft operating in these airspace areas are subject to certain operating rules and equipment requirements. Class B airspace protects the approach and departure paths from aircraft not under

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

. All aircraft inside Class B airspace are subject to air traffic control. Traffic operating under VFR must be identified on radar and explicitly cleared into the airspace before they can enter. The airspace is commonly depicted as resembling an "upside-down wedding cake". The innermost ring extends from the surface area around the airport to typically 10,000' MSL. Several outer rings usually surround it with progressively higher floors to allow traffic into nearby airports without entering the primary airport's Class B airspace. The airspace around the busiest US airports is classified as ICAO Class B, and the primary airport (one or more) for which this airspace is designated is called Class B airport. As of August 2017, there are 37 Class B airports in the United States.Airspace Amendments to FAA Order JO 7400.11B
accessed 2017-12-04 Despite common misconception,

Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military ...

and Dallas Love Field Airport are not designated as Class B airports; however, in both cases the Class B airspace for the primary airport in the region ( Harry Reid International and Dallas/Fort Worth International, respectively) has been specifically extended to cover these airports as if they were themselves Class B.FAA order JO 7400.11B, Airspace Designations and Reporting Points
effective 2017-09-15, accessed 2017-12-04 The following list of Class B airports is sorted by state and IATA Airport Code/

ICAO Airport Code The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published in ICAO Document 7910: ''Location Indicators'', a ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

: *PHX / KPHX Phoenix Sky Harbor International

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

: *LAX / KLAX Los Angeles International *NKX / KNKX Marine Corps Air Station Miramar *SAN / KSAN San Diego International/Lindbergh Field *SFO / KSFO San Francisco International

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

: *DEN / KDEN Denver International

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

: *MCO / KMCO Orlando International *MIA / KMIA Miami International *TPA / KTPA Tampa International

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

: *ATL / KATL Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

: *HNL / PHNL Honolulu International

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

: *ORD / KORD Chicago–O'Hare International

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

: *CVG / KCVG Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

: *MSY / KMSY Louis Armstrong New Orleans International

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

: *ADW / KADW Andrews Air Force Base *BWI / KBWI Baltimore/Washington International

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

: *BOS / KBOS Boston–Logan International

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

: *DTW / KDTW Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

: *MSP / KMSP Minneapolis–Saint Paul International

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

: *MCI / KMCI Kansas City International *STL / KSTL Lambert–St. Louis International

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

: *LAS / KLAS Las Vegas-Harry Reid International *LSV / KLSV

(lies within the class B surface area of LAS)

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

: *EWR / KEWR Newark Liberty International New York: *JFK / KJFK New York–John F. Kennedy International *LGA / KLGA New York–La Guardia

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

: *CLT / KCLT Charlotte Douglas International

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

: *CLE / KCLE Cleveland Hopkins International

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

: *PHL / KPHL

Philadelphia International Philadelphia International Records (PIR) was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff along with their longtime collaborator Thom Bell. ...

*PIT / KPIT Pittsburgh International

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

: *MEM / KMEM Memphis International

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

: *DAL / KDAL Dallas Love Field (lies within the class B surface area of DFW) *DFW / KDFW Dallas/Fort Worth International *HOU / KHOU Houston–Hobby (class B secondary airport) *IAH / KIAH Houston–George Bush Intercontinental

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

: *SLC / KSLC Salt Lake City International

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

: *DCA / KDCA Ronald Reagan Washington National *IAD / KIAD Washington Dulles International

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

: *SEA / KSEA Seattle–Tacoma International

References

{{reflist

External links

FAA Aeronautical Navigation Products (AeroNav Products)
formerly National Aeronautical Charting Office (NACO)
FAA National Flight Center Data (NFDC)

SkyVector
– geo-referenced online collection of US aeronautical charts *Class B

See also

References

External links