Valdez Pioneer Field
VDZ · PAVD · Valdez, Alaska · Valdez-Cordova County · map
Valdez Pioneer Field is a public-use airport, 3 miles east of Valdez, Alaska, 128 feet above sea level. Its one runway, 06/24, is 6,500 feet of asphalt. It has fuel (100LL avgas, Jet A).
Weather right now PAVD · observed 1:56 pm AKDT (21:56 UTC), 9 minutes ago
VFR good flying weather
- Wind from the west-southwest (250°) at 3 knots
- Visibility 9 miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 400 feet, a broken layer at 5,500 feet, overcast at 9,000 feet
- Temperature 46°F (8°C), dew point 46°F (8°C)
- Altimeter 29.75 inHg
The forecast issued Tue 9:26 am AKDT (17:26 UTC), good until Wed 10:00 am AKDT (18:00 UTC)
- From Tue 10:00 am AKDT (18:00 UTC): wind light and variable, visibility more than 6 miles, light rain showers, a few clouds at 1,000 feet, scattered clouds at 2,500 feet and more above VFR
- From Tue 4:00 pm AKDT (00:00 UTC): wind light and variable, visibility more than 6 miles, light rain showers, a few clouds at 1,000 feet, a broken layer at 2,500 feet and more above MVFR
- From Wed 7:00 am AKDT (15:00 UTC): wind light and variable, visibility 6 miles, light rain showers, a few clouds at 1,000 feet, a broken layer at 2,000 feet and more above MVFR
The codes as issued (METAR and TAF)
METAR PAVD 062156Z 25003KT 9SM FEW004 BKN055 OVC090 08/08 A2975 RMK AO2 RAE44 SLP073 P0000 T00780078 $
TAF PAVD 061726Z 0618/0718 VRB03KT P6SM -SHRA FEW010 SCT025 OVC050 FM070000 VRB03KT P6SM -SHRA FEW010 BKN025 OVC050 FM071500 VRB02KT 6SM -SHRA FEW010 BKN020 OVC040
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 VDZ · ICAO PAVD
- Kind
- Airport · open to the public · publicly owned
- Elevation
- 128 feet above sea level
- Control tower
- No control tower
- Attended
- January to December, Monday to Friday, 6:00 am to 6:30 pm; January to December, weekends, 8:00 am to 6:30 pm
- Lights
- runway lights see the remarks below; beacon sunset to sunrise
- Fuel
- 100LL avgas, Jet A
- Repairs
- airframe: minor repairs; engine: minor repairs
- Notes
- certified for airline service (Part 139)
- On the chart
- Anchorage sectional
- Magnetic variation
- 19E
- In the FAA's files since
- October 1952
Runway
For understanding the field, not for navigation.
| Runway | Length × width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06/24 | 6,500 × 150 ft | Asphalt, good | High-intensity lights |
- Runway 06: LDA with DME, PAPI, four lights on the left, medium-intensity approach lights with runway alignment lights (MALSR), right-hand traffic pattern, trees 55 ft high 2,100 ft from the end
- Runway 24: trees 77 ft high 1,580 ft from the end
Radio frequencies
| Common traffic advisory (CTAF) | 122.9 | |
| Vdz and aWOS-3P | 118.8 | |
| Johnstone Point Center (remote transmitter) Low/high | 119.3 | |
| Valdez and rco | 121.5 | Valdez |
| Valdez and rco | 122.2 | Valdez · Communications provided by juneau Flight Service on frequency 122.2 (Valdez rco). |
Automated weather (AWOS-3P), by phone 907-560-7614.
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 Valdez from the FAA register
26 aircraft are registered to owners in Valdez, Alaska: 24 piston singles, 1 helicopter, 1 drone. Not every one of them is based at this airport; the based-aircraft count above is the FAA's figure for this airport alone.
Individuals are counted, never named. All aircraft registered in Alaska.
Accidents and incidents at or near this airport NTSB records · 5 since 1982, 1 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
- Activate approach lights (MALSR) runway 06; runway end identifier lights runway 24; PAPI runway 06; high-intensity runway lights runway 06/24 - the common traffic frequency.
- Alert: durg strong north wind; midfield and east end runway wind may be much hyr than automated weather (AWOS) indcd.
- Alert: see spl notice - port Valdez area and genots - thompson pass avalanche control.
- Airport sand lrgr than FAA recommended/see AC150/5200-30.
- Cold temperature airport. Altitude correction required at or below -10C.
- 1675 an X 200 feet southwest ptn of ramp not mntnd nov 1 - apr 15.
- Maintenance hours MON-FRI 6:00 am to 6:30 pm; Saturday and Sunday 8:00 am to 6:30 pm.
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.