Airports by Type and State
There are nearly 20,000 landing areas in the United States, of which 13,822 are airports. The remainder are heliports, stolports, seaplane bases, glider ports, balloon ports, and ultralight flight parks. Of the
airports, 8,695 are private use and 5,221 are open to the public. About 3,364 are included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS), a prerequisite for federal grant-in-aid eligibility through the Airport Improvement Program (AIP).
In the Central Region there are about 1,211 airports. By way of comparison, that’s roughly 9% of the national total. Of these, 388 are in Missouri; 366 are in Kansas; 217 are in Iowa, and 240 are in Nebraska. Of these 1,211, slightly over 300 (25%) are NPIAS airports and therefore eligible for AIP funding.
The following table represents the number of public use airports existing in each state; the number included in the NPIAS; the number publicly owned but not included in the NPIAS; and the number privately owned (by definition not eligible for the NPIAS) that are available for public use. [Because of liability issues, a very small percentage of the privately owned airports are available for public use.] Note that all of the NPIAS airports are open to the public.
Public-Use Airports in Central Region by Type
| State |
Public-Owned
NPIAS |
Public-Owned
Non-NPIAS |
Privately Owned
Non-NPIAS |
| Iowa |
77 |
35 |
9 |
| Kansas |
79 |
44 |
22 |
| Missouri |
77 |
32 |
18 |
| Nebraska |
70 |
13 |
4 |
Not included in the above are the nearly 800 privately owned, private use airports which, though not subject to many Federal regulations, represent a significant aviation resource. By State there are:
- 113 in Iowa
- 227 in Kansas
- 275 in Missouri
- 176 in Nebraska
