Palo Alto Airport
PAO · KPAO · Palo Alto, California · Santa Clara County · map
Palo Alto Airport is a public-use airport owned by the City of Palo Alto in Palo Alto, California, 7 feet above sea level. Its one runway, 13/31, is 2,441 feet of asphalt. It has a control tower and fuel (100LL avgas, Jet A).
The airport
- Codes
- FAA PAO · ICAO KPAO
- Kind
- Airport · open to the public · publicly owned
- Owner
- City of Palo Alto
- Elevation
- 7 feet above sea level
- Control tower
- A control tower · 7:00 am to 9:00 pm
- Attended
- every day, 6:00 am to 8:00 pm
- Lights
- runway lights see the remarks below; beacon sunset to sunrise
- Fuel
- 100LL avgas, Jet A
- Repairs
- airframe: major repairs; engine: major repairs
- Parking
- tiedown
- On the chart
- San Francisco sectional
- Magnetic variation
- 15E
- In the FAA's files since
- April 1940
Runway
Drawn to scale from the FAA's runway positions, north up. Not for navigation.
| Runway | Length × width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13/31 | 2,441 × 70 ft | Asphalt, good | Medium-intensity lights |
- Runway 13: PAPI, two lights on the left, berm 8 ft high 300 ft from the end
- Runway 31: PAPI, two lights on the left, right-hand traffic pattern, berm 5 ft high 230 ft from the end
Radio frequencies
| Common traffic advisory (CTAF) · Tower | 118.6 | Palo Alto |
| UNICOM | 122.95 | |
| ATIS (recorded airport information) | 135.275 | Palo Alto |
| Ground | 125.0 | Palo Alto |
| Approach · Departure | 121.3 | Palo Alto |
| Approach (secondary) | 133.95 | Palo Alto |
| Approach (secondary) | 134.5 | Palo Alto |
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 Palo Alto from the FAA register
184 aircraft are registered to owners in Palo Alto, California: 81 piston singles, 66 electric and sustainable aircraft, 13 business jets, 11 turboprops, 5 gliders. 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 California.
Accidents and incidents at or near this airport NTSB records · 70 since 1982, 5 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
- +100 feet transmission towers east of airport.
- Airport lights operate continuously when the control tower closed.
- SELF-FUELING availble 24/7.
- Runway 13 +8 feet dike 300 feet from runway end, obstruction lighted.
- Runway 31 +5 feet dike 230 feet from runway end, obstruction lighted.
- Birds on and in the vicinity of AP.
- Pattern altitude 1000 feet west and 800 feet east.
- Noise sensitive area southeast through northwest of airport. Recommended aircraft landing at Palo Alto airport fly at or above 1500 feet until xng the bayshore freeway, and recommended aircraft departure runway 31 turn 10 degrees right after takeoff until rchg dumbarton auto bridge.
- Be alert for pedestrains xng a dike road 8 feet high and 300 feet from runway 13 end.
- Cons pedestrian/vehicle act on aircraft taxi lanes not designated as taxiway mov areas.
- Airport scty prods in effect.
- On approach to runway 31 be alert to poss stg updraft from wind tunnel located on west side of moffett federal airfield.
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.