Crater Lake–Klamath Regional Airport (Klamath Falls Airport) is a public use airport in

Klamath County, Oregon Klamath County ( ) is one of the List of counties in Oregon, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 69,413. The county seat is Klamath Falls, Oregon, Klamath Falls. The Oreg ...

, United States, five miles southeast of

Klamath Falls Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city wa ...

, which owns it. It is used by

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

military aviation Military aviation is the design, development and use of military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift (air cargo) capacity to provide military logistics, logist ...

and a few airline flights. In 2013, the name of the airport was changed to ''Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport''. The

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. With the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of September 3, 1982, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was required to develop a ...

for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''primary commercial service'' airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings (enplanements) per year.

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

records say the airport had 15,856 enplanements in 2011, a decrease from 21,353 in 2010. As Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base, the airport is the home of the

Oregon Air National Guard The Oregon Air National Guard (OR ANG) is the aerial militia of the Oregon, State of Oregon, United States, United States of America. It is a reserve of the United States Air Force and along with the Oregon Army National Guard an element of the O ...

's 173d Fighter Wing (173 FW) flying the

F-15 Eagle The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's des ...

. An

Air Education and Training Command The Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is one of the nine List of major commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force. It was esta ...

(AETC)-gained unit, the 173 FW specializes as an advanced

air-to-air combat Air combat manoeuvring (ACM) is the Military tactics, tactic of moving, turning, and situating one's fighter aircraft in order to attain a position from which an attack can be made on another aircraft. Commonly associated with dogfighting, air c ...

training center for Regular Air Force and Air National Guard

F-15 The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's des ...

pilots, as well as hosting joint and combined air combat exercises for all US military services and those of Canada. Kingsley Field is home to a USAF flight surgeon training school. The 173d Fighter Wing is currently under the command of Colonel Jeff Smith.

History

In 1928, the citizens of Klamath Falls approved the sale of $50,000 worth of bonds to build Klamath Falls Municipal Airport. It had gravel runways and one Fixed-Base Operator; in 1942, it was selected for a

Naval Air Station A Naval Air Station (NAS) is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy (Naval aviation). These bases are typically populated by squadron ...

later named NAS Klamath Falls. In 1945, the airport was transferred back to civil use; the January 1952 C&GS diagram shows runway 7 (5258 ft long), 14 (7134 ft) and 18 (5164 ft). In 1954, the airport was selected as a U.S. Air Force

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...

base, becoming a joint-use civil-military location. The

408th Fighter Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

arrived to supervise these activities, authorized Mighty Mouse rocket and airborne intercept

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

equipped

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

s. But for some years the assigned

518th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 518th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command's 408th Fighter Group at Klamath Falls Airport, Oregon, where it was inactivated on 1 July 1959. The squadron ...

was not made operational, remaining inactive. In 1957 the airport was dedicated as Kingsley Field in honor of 2nd Lieutenant David R. Kingsley, USAAF, an Oregonian killed in action on June 23, 1944, after a

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

bombing mission over the oil fields of Ploiesti, Roumania. The

827th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

(later 827th Radar Squadron) was activated at Kingsley Field the same year. While the administrative and support sections of the squadron were located on the airfield, the squadrons operational element and radars were located nearby at what was named Keno Air Force Station in February 1959. The

was reassigned to the

25th Air Division The 25th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force intermediate echelon command and control organization. It was last assigned to First Air Force, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). It was inactivated on 30 September 1990 at McChord Air ...

on 1 March 1959; to the

Portland Air Defense Sector The Portland Air Defense Sector (PADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 25th Air Division, being stationed at Adair Air Force Station, Oregon. It was inactivated on 1 July 1969. History ...

on 15 April 1960; to the

26th Air Division The 26th Air Division (26th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at March Air Force Base, California. It was inactiv ...

on 1 April 1966; and the 25th Air Division on 15 September 1969. The group was inactivated on 1 October 1970. Fighter-interceptor squadrons which operated from Kingsley Field were: * 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 April 1959 – 30 September 1968 (

F-101B Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter designed and produced by the American McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. Development of the F-101 began in the late 1940s as a long-range bomber escort (then known as a penetration figh ...

) *

59th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 59th Quartermaster Company is a bulk petroleum company designed to provide semi-portable storage for of fuel and to provide distribution of fuel to military units within a specified geographic area while deployed overseas. Its secondary missi ...

, 30 September 1968 – 17 December 1969 (F-101B/F Voodoo]) *

460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 460th Test and Evaluation Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit. It was previously assigned to Tactical Air Command's 325th Fighter Weapons Wing at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, where it was inactivated on 15 October 1982. ...

, 1 December 1969 – 16 April 1971 ( F-106A/B Delta Dart) In 1976, ADC was inactivated and control passed to

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Lang ...

(TAC). In 1978, the Department of Defense transferred the facilities from the

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. Indian The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one of the largest active service forces in the world, with almost 1.42 million Active Standin ...

Air Force to the

. The now- 827th Radar Squadron was inactivated on 1 October 1979. In August 2020, it was announced that Kingsley Field would host the Air Force's first

F-15EX The Boeing F-15EX Eagle II is an American multirole fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle. The aircraft resulted from U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) studies in 2018 to recapitalize the United States Air Force's (USAF ...

formal training unit from 2022. The F-15EX is intended to replace the aging F-15C/D Eagle, which is expected to run out of service life by the mid-2020s. These plans were revised in May 2023, with it being announced that Kingsley Field would instead host a

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic Stealth aircraft, stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both Air superiority fighter, air superiority and att ...

training unit. It is intended that 20 of the type will be based at Kingsley Field from approximately 2025.

Facilities

Crater Lake–Klamath Regional Airport covers 1,251

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s (506 ha) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''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 equipotenti ...

of 4,095 feet (1,248 m). It has two

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

s: 14/32 is 10,302 by 150 feet (3,140 x 46 m)

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

and

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

; 7/25 is 5,258 by 100 feet (1,603 x 30 m) asphalt. In the year ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 35,123 aircraft operations, average 96 per day: 54%

, 37% military, and 9%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...

. 111 aircraft were then based at the airport: 63 single-engine, 18 jet, 18 military, 10 multi-engine, and 2

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

. The airport is home to the Klamath Falls Interagency Fire Center, the Klamath Falls Airtanker Base and the Tanker 61 Memorial, commemorating a TBM Inc. firebomber lost in 1992. As of April 2025, the airport is currently open on weekdays year round for public use, the airport also includes airline refueling, a flight school and car rentals. Fuel prices are around $6.00 and currently a landing fee is charged to incoming aircraft.

Airline history

Until 1959,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

s and

Convair 340 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some i ...

s served Klamath Falls; later

West Coast Airlines West Coast Airlines was a United States local service carrier, a scheduled airline certificated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), linking small cities in the Pacific Northwest with larger cities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, ...

flew

Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 are versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined, turboprop, passenger aircraft formerly manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to ...

s to cities in Oregon and California. West Coast merged with

Bonanza Air Lines Bonanza Air Lines was a local service carrier, a US scheduled airline focused on smaller routes in the Western United States (and eventually Mexico) from 1949 until it merged with two other local service airlines to form Air West in 1968. Its he ...

and

Pacific Air Lines Pacific Air Lines was a local service carrier on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid-1940s under the name Southwest Airways. The company linked small cities in California with larger cities such ...

to form Air West which subsequently changed its name to

Hughes Airwest Hughes Air Corporation, doing business as Hughes Airwest, was a local service carrier from 1970 to 1980 in the Western United States. It was backed by Howard Hughes' Summa Corporation. Its original name in 1968 was Air West and the air carr ...

and was then later merged into

Republic Airlines Republic Airlines was an airline in the United States that operated from 1979 until it merged with Northwest Airlines in 1986. Republic was formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways on July 1, 1979. Their headquar ...

. Air West and Hughes Airwest continued to serve the airport with F-27s. Hughes Airwest introduced the first jets,

Douglas DC-9-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell ...

and

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell A ...

s, and was operating nonstop flights to

Redding, CA Redding is a city in and the county seat of Shasta County, California, and the economic and cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California. Redding lies along the Sacramento River, north of Sacramento, California, Sacrame ...

and

Redmond, OR Redmond is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. The population was 33,274 at the 2020 census, and according to 2023 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 37,009. The city is on the eastern side of Oregon' ...

as well as direct service to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and

Eugene, OR Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. The se ...

in 1980; successor Republic DC-9s continued to serve the airport with nonstop flights to Redding and Redmond as well as flying direct jet service to San Francisco, Seattle and

Portland, OR Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

in 1982 before ceasing serving Klamath Falls in 1983.

returned with

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

jets direct to San Francisco in March, 1986 but the service ended in November, 1987. From the late 1970s to early 1980s,

Air Oregon Air Oregon was an airline based in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded as Executive Flight Services in 1961 in Portland; it was renamed to Air Oregon in 1977. In June 1982, Air Oregon was acquired by and merged into Horizon Air which is now a wholl ...

Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, Cabin pressurization, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation, Swearingen ...

s flew direct to Portland, Seattle and other cities. In the mid-1980s,

Pacific Express Pacific Express was an all-jet airline in the western United States from 1982 to early based in marketed itself as Pan Am Pacific Express reflecting a marketing agreement between Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) and the carrier for connect ...

BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (BAC-111, BAC 1-11) is a retired early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-seat airl ...

jets flew to San Francisco via Redding and to Portland via Redmond.

Horizon Air Horizon Air is an American regional airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Alaska Air Group and it is paid by fellow group member Alaska Airlines to staff, ope ...

, a subsidiary of

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried, as of 2024. Alaska, togethe ...

, flew

de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was bought by Boeing in 1986, then by Bombardier in 1992, then by Longv ...

s and Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners to Portland and Seattle. From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s American Eagle Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners flew direct to San Francisco and

San Jose, CA San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

via

Chico, CA Chico ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 United Sta ...

or Redding on behalf of

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

WestAir WestAir Commuter Airlines (IATA:OE, VB/ICAO WCA, SDU), was a U.S.-based regional airline formed when Stol Air Commuter changed its name in 1978 to WestAir Airlines; it was renamed WestAir Commuter Airlines in 1986. One of the founders was Maur ...

operating as

United Express United Express is a regional airline network that supports United Airlines operations, primarily by serving smaller cities and connecting traffic to United's main hubs. Representing six percent of United's total capacity for 2024, United Express ...

) flew

BAe Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...

s to San Francisco while Reno Air Express operated by

Mid Pacific Air Mid Pacific Air was a low-cost regional airline which began operations with passenger services in Hawaii. Founded in 1981, initial routes connected the islands of Kauai, O'ahu, Maui and Hawaii (the Big Island). Its primary competitors were es ...

on behalf of Reno Air) flew

s to San Jose, CA.

operated by

SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah. SkyWest operates and maintains aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by four partner Mainline (air travel), mainline airlines. The comp ...

pulled out of Klamath Falls in the late 1990s but then resumed flights when

ceased serving the airport.

SkyWest SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah. SkyWest operates and maintains aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by four partner mainline airlines. The company is contracted by ...

Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series o ...

s operated the last

service into Klamath Falls. In late 2010, SkyWest dropped one flight to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. Passenger count dropped in 2011, but passengers per flight increased.City of Klamath Falls Annual Report 2011, page 6. United Express, operated by SkyWest on behalf of

, terminated service to Portland and San Francisco on June 5, 2014.

PenAir Peninsula Airways, operated as PenAir, was a U.S.-based regional airline headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. It was Alaska's second-largest commuter airline operating scheduled passenger service, as well as charter and medevac services througho ...

started

Saab 340B The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30–36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different ...

flights from Klamath Falls to Portland on October 6, 2016. Initially, the proposed service by PenAir was on hold from 2015 due to federal

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

(TSA) refusal to station security personnel at the terminal. As of August 2017, this service has ended, following PenAir filing for bankruptcy.

Airlines and destinations

Cargo

Funding

The Airport City Fund operates the airport's civilian and military interest. Revenue mainly is from city property taxes, transient room taxes and the rental activities in the airport itself. Because of the commercial flights at the airport, the

contributes funds to keep the runways and taxiways in good conditions.

Accidents at or near LMT

*On March 10, 1967, West Coast Airlines Flight 720, a

, crashed 2 minutes after takeoff in snowy conditions into Stukel Mountain 4.1 miles SE of Klamath Airport because of ice accretion on the airframe surfaces and was not de-iced by crews prior to takeoff. All 4 occupants (3 crew, 1 passenger) were killed.

References

External links

* , official website
Aerial image as of July 2000
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a Collaboration, 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 eff ...

'' * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport Airports in Klamath County, Oregon Buildings and structures in Klamath Falls, Oregon 1928 establishments in Oregon Closed installations of the United States Navy