Charleston Afb/Intl Airport
CHS · KCHS · Charleston, South Carolina · Charleston County · map
Charleston Afb/Intl Airport is a public-use airport owned by Usaf, 9 miles northwest of Charleston, South Carolina, 46 feet above sea level. It has 2 runways; the longest, 15/33, is 9,001 feet of concrete. It has a control tower and fuel (100 octane avgas, Jet A-1 with additive).
Weather right now KCHS · observed 3:56 pm EDT (19:56 UTC), 41 minutes ago
MVFR flyable but watch the ceiling and visibility
- Wind from the northeast (040°) at 14 knots, gusting to 19
- Visibility 10 miles or more
- Sky: overcast at 2,500 feet
- Temperature 73°F (23°C), dew point 64°F (18°C)
- Altimeter 30.01 inHg
The forecast issued Tue 3:54 pm EDT (19:54 UTC), good until Wed 2:00 pm EDT (18:00 UTC)
- From Tue 4:00 pm EDT (20:00 UTC): wind from the northeast at 13 knots, gusting to 20, visibility more than 6 miles, a broken layer at 5,000 feet VFR
- At times between Tue 4:00 pm EDT (20:00 UTC) and 6:00 pm EDT (22:00 UTC): a broken layer at 2,500 feet MVFR
- From Tue 7:00 pm EDT (23:00 UTC): wind from the northeast at 10 knots, gusting to 16, visibility more than 6 miles, scattered clouds at 5,000 feet VFR
- From Tue 11:00 pm EDT (03:00 UTC): wind from the north-northeast at 8 knots, visibility more than 6 miles, a broken layer at 25,000 feet VFR
- From Wed 10:00 am EDT (14:00 UTC): wind from the north-northeast at 10 knots, visibility more than 6 miles, a few clouds at 3,500 feet VFR
The codes as issued (METAR and TAF)
METAR KCHS 061956Z 04014G19KT 10SM OVC025 23/18 A3001 RMK AO2 SLP161 T02280178
TAF KCHS 061954Z 0620/0718 05013G20KT P6SM BKN050 TEMPO 0620/0622 BKN025 FM062300 04010G16KT P6SM SCT050 FM070300 03008KT P6SM BKN250 FM071400 02010KT P6SM FEW035
From the National Weather Service's aviation weather service, refreshed every few minutes; times are local to the airport with UTC in brackets. For a flight, get your briefing from Flight Service or an approved provider.
The airport
- Codes
- FAA CHS · ICAO KCHS
- Kind
- Airport · open to the public · owned by the Air Force
- Owner
- Usaf
- Elevation
- 46 feet above sea level
- Control tower
- A control tower with a TRACON · around the clock
- Attended
- around the clock
- Lights
- beacon sunset to sunrise
- Fuel
- 100 octane avgas, Jet A-1 with additive
- 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
- October 1937
Runways 2
For understanding the field, not for navigation.
| Runway | Length × width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15/33 | 9,001 × 150 ft | Concrete, good | High-intensity lights |
| 03/21 | 7,000 × 150 ft | Concrete, good | High-intensity lights |
- Runway 15: ILS, PAPI, four lights on the left, approach lights with sequenced flashers (ALSF-2)
- Runway 33: ILS, PAPI, four lights on the left, medium-intensity approach lights with runway alignment lights (MALSR)
- Runway 03: PAPI, four lights on the left
- Runway 21: PAPI, four lights on the left
Radio frequencies
| UNICOM | 122.95 | |
| Digital ATIS | 124.75 | Charleston |
| Clearance delivery | 119.85 | |
| Clearance delivery | 127.325 | Charleston |
| Ground | 121.9 | Charleston |
| Tower | 126.0 | Charleston |
| Approach and departure · Baggy and star · Class C airspace arriving from headings 151 to 330 | 120.7 | Charleston |
| Amylu and star · Approach and departure · Class C airspace arriving from headings 331 to 150 | 121.275 | Charleston |
| Emergency | 121.5 | Charleston |
| Charleston and rco | 122.2 | Charleston |
| Operations Palmetto | 134.1 | Charleston |
Automated weather (ASOS), by phone 843-214-2525.
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 Charleston from the FAA register
94 aircraft are registered to owners in Charleston, South Carolina: 74 piston singles, 7 business jets, 5 turboprops, 5 piston twins, 2 drones. 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 · 26 since 1982, 3 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
- Pattern altitude: rectangular 1154 feet AGL/1200 feet above sea level, ovhd 1654 feet AGL/1700 feet above sea level, light aircraft 654 feet AGL/700 feet above sea level, C5A 1954 feet AGL/ 2000 feet above sea level.
- This is a SHARED-USE airport. The usaf owns and operates all runways and the majority of the taxiways. The Charleston county aviation authority operates the civilian terminal and associated taxiways.
- TYPE-H BAK-12A(B) (1260')
- TYPE-H BAK-12A(B) (1460')
- Lights for both runways are AF spec type.
- Liquid oxygen serving available to military.
- No student solo touch and go landing allowed.
- Intensive heavy military jets and other misc aircraft executing numerous cargo and personnel drops, high speed LOW-LEVEL formation flights and misc AIR-TO-GROUND operations.
- Parking on terminal apron restricted to commercial air carrier and aircraft for customs clearance by prior arrangement only.
- Jasu: 8(MD-3M) 2(MA-1A) (M32A-60) (M32A-60A)
- Fluid: soap - routine soap samples not available; SP presair lhox lox
- Oil: NON-DETERGENT oil not available for piston aircraft. O-128-133-148(military)
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.