Columbia Metro Airport
CAE · KCAE · Columbia, South Carolina · Lexington County · map
Columbia Metro Airport is a public-use airport, 5 miles southwest of Columbia, South Carolina, 236 feet above sea level. It has 3 runways; the longest, 11/29, is 8,601 feet of concrete. It has a control tower and fuel (100LL avgas, Jet A).
The airport
- Codes
- FAA CAE · ICAO KCAE
- Kind
- Airport · open to the public · publicly owned
- Elevation
- 236 feet above sea level
- Control tower
- A control tower with a TRACON · around the clock
- Attended
- around the clock
- Lights
- runway lights sunset to sunrise; beacon sunset to sunrise
- Fuel
- 100LL avgas, Jet A
- Repairs
- airframe: major repairs; engine: major repairs
- Parking
- hangar, tiedown
- Notes
- certified for airline service (Part 139)
- On the chart
- Charlotte sectional
- Magnetic variation
- 7W
- In the FAA's files since
- June 1942
Runways 3
Drawn to scale from the FAA's runway positions, north up. Not for navigation.
| Runway | Length × width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/29 | 8,601 × 150 ft | Concrete, excellent | High-intensity lights |
| 05/23 | 8,001 × 150 ft | Asphalt and concrete, excellent | High-intensity lights |
| H1 | 50 × 50 ft | Concrete, fair | Perimeter lights |
- Runway 11: ILS with DME, PAPI, four lights on the left, approach lights with sequenced flashers (ALSF-2)
- Runway 29: ILS, PAPI, four lights on the left, medium-intensity approach lights with runway alignment lights (MALSR), 8,506 ft available for landing
- Runway 05: ILS, PAPI, four lights on the right, medium-intensity approach lights with runway alignment lights (MALSR), 7,001 ft available for landing
- Runway 23: PAPI, four lights on the left, threshold displaced 1,000 ft, 7,001 ft available for landing, tree 45 ft high 1,575 ft from the end
Radio frequencies
| UNICOM | 122.95 | |
| ATIS (recorded airport information) | 120.15 | Columbia |
| Clearance delivery | 119.75 | Columbia |
| Clearance delivery | 124.4 | |
| Clearance delivery When augusta approach control closed | 126.075 | |
| Ground | 121.9 | Columbia |
| Tower | 119.5 | Columbia |
| Approach and departure · Class C airspace arriving from headings 110 to 289; When augusta approach control closed | 124.15 | Columbia |
| Approach and departure · Class C airspace arriving from headings 290 to 109 | 133.4 | Columbia |
| Emergency | 121.5 | Columbia |
Automated weather (ASOS), by phone 803-369-6879.
Wind map live wind over the area, from Windy.com
Colours show wind speed, the moving lines its direction; drag the time bar for the coming days. Map and forecast by Windy.com.
Aircraft registered in Columbia from the FAA register
93 aircraft are registered to owners in Columbia, South Carolina: 69 piston singles, 7 piston twins, 5 helicopters, 5 business jets, 3 turboprops. Not every one of them is based at this airport; the based-aircraft count above is the FAA's figure for this airport alone.
Companies and organisations in town with two or more aircraft:
Individuals are counted, never named. All aircraft registered in South Carolina.
Accidents and incidents at or near this airport NTSB records · 37 since 1982, 8 fatal
Cases the NTSB recorded with this as the nearest airport, newest first. Each opens the full report in plain English.
Nearby within 30 nautical miles
The FAA's remarks as written in the airport file
- Airport existed prior to 1958.
- Fee for commercial aircraft over 15000 pounds.
- Airport dist.
- Runway 05 200 feet by 200 feet blast pad.
- Runway 11 220 feet by 400 feet blast pad; runway 29 220 feet by 400 feet blast pad.
- ALSF2 also opers as ssalr.
- Runway 05/23 cntr 75 feet is concrete, entire length of runway.
- Oprn of ultralight vehicles prohibited.
- Sports complex with nmrs flood lights approximately 6500 feet from approach end runway 11.
- Noise abatement procedure: no turns below 1000 feet for turbine eng aircraft unless dctd by air traffic control.
- Helipad H1 located north of taxilane east, east of taxiway E3.
- Due to proximity and runway alnmt aircrews have mistaken cub (runway 13/31) for cae (runway 11/29) which is 6 miles northeast.
Facts from the FAA's airport file effective October 1, 2026, written out in plain English; weather from the National Weather Service's aviation weather service; registered aircraft from the FAA register as of October 5, 2026; accidents from the NTSB's public database. Owners are shown only when they are an organisation; no person is named. Check the official sources before a flight: this page is for understanding an airport, not for planning one.