Centennial Airport

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Centennial Airport

IATA: APA – ICAO: KAPA
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority
Location		Centennial, Colorado
Elevation AMSL		5,883 ft / 1,793 m
Coordinates		39°34′12″N, 104°50′57″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
17L/35R	10,002	3,049	Asphalt
17R/35L	7,004	2,135	Asphalt
10/28	4,800	1,463	Asphalt

Centennial Airport (IATA: APA, ICAO: KAPA), formerly Arapahoe County Airport, lies within Arapahoe and Douglas counties and adjacent to Centennial, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. The airport, opened on May 13, 1967, is not named after the city, having predated it by over 30 years. It is an international airport with 24/7 US Customs services and ranks the second busiest general aviation airport in the United States in terms of take offs and landings after Van Nuys Airport with average of 874 operations per day^[1]. It is served by a 24/7 Federal Aviation Administration control tower and associated air traffic control services, as well as U.S. customs. It has three runways - 17/35 Left and Right, and 10/28. Runway 35R has a Cat I Instrument Approach. A number of flight schools, flying clubs, air charter services, aircraft sales services and aircraft maintenance services are based at Centennial Airport.

Five Fixed Based Operators (FBOs) have operations at Centennial Airport; Denver jetCenter, TAC Air, Signature Flight Support, XJet, and the HeliPlex, which caters to helicopters only.

Aviation Technology Group (ATG) and Adam Aircraft Industries have offices at the airport.

[edit] Safety issues

Following a spate of fatal crashes at Centennial airport in 2004 - 2005, including 2 involving Mitsubishi MU-2 aircraft operated by Flightline Inc within a short period, reporters at the Denver Post used National Transportation Safety Board accident data to show that "the airport has had more general-aviation accidents - 69 - associated with it than any other U.S. airport over the past 15 years, about 35 percent more than an airfield in Anchorage, Alaska, that has the second-highest number." The airport’s accident rate is lower - 35th nationally among those with at least 500,000 takeoffs and landings since 1990 - because it is also one of the nation’s busiest.