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Cincinnati Municipal Airport – Lunken Field (Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport) (IATA: LUK, ICAO: KLUK, FAA LID: LUK) is a public airport in Cincinnati, Ohio, three miles (5 km) east of Downtown Cincinnati. It is owned by the city of Cincinnati[1] and serves private aircraft, including the fleets of local corporations. It serves a few commercial flights and is the second-largest airport serving Cincinnati after Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which is the area’s primary airport. It is known as Lunken Airport or Lunken Field, after Eshelby Lunken.[2] It is bounded by US Route 50 (historic Columbia Parkway and Eastern Avenue) to the west, US Route 52 (Kellogg Avenue) and the Ohio River to the south, the Little Miami River (which originally flowed through the airfield but was diverted) to the east, and Ohio Route 125 (Beechmont Avenue) to the north. The airport is headquarters and hub for Cincinnati-based public charter airline Ultimate Air Shuttle, serving 5 destinations in the eastern United States with 16 peak daily flights. Lunken is also home to small charter airline Flamingo Air and its aviation school.
Cincinnati Municipal Airport Lunken Field | |||||||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
Owner | City of Cincinnati | ||||||||||||||||||
Serves | Cincinnati, Ohio | ||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1925 | ||||||||||||||||||
Hub for | Ultimate Air Shuttle | ||||||||||||||||||
Time zone | UTC−05:00 (-5) | ||||||||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (-4) | ||||||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 483 ft / 147 m | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 39°06′12″N 084°25′07″W | ||||||||||||||||||
Website | LUK website | ||||||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Cincinnati Municipal Airport (Lunken Airport) was Cincinnati's main airport until 1947. It is in the Little Miami River valley near Columbia, the site of the first Cincinnati-area settlement in 1788. When the 1,000-acre (400 ha) airfield opened in 1925 it was the largest municipal airfield in the world.[3] The airport was named for Eshelby Lunken, whose father, Edmund H. Lunken, ran the Lunkenheimer Valve Company. (The family's last name had been shortened from its original "Lunkenheimer" spelling.)[4]
The first aviation related activities in the area were flying lessons offered by John "Dixie" Dixon Davis around 1921.[4] The flights took place just north of the airport, roughly where the Lunken Playfield is today.[5]
On December 17, 1925, the Embry-Riddle Company was formed at Lunken Airport by T. Higbee Embry and John Paul Riddle. A few years later the company moved to Florida, and later became the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. In 1928, the T. E. Halpin Development Co, later the Metal Aircraft Corporation, produced 22 of the high-wing Flamingo at the airport.[6] Also in 1928, Aeronca Aircraft Corporation was formed to build cheap light aircraft; the factory building, hangar 4, is still in use.[7] Over 500 C-2 and C-3 aircraft were built here. Airline flights began in the late 1920s; in 1938, American Airlines and Marquette Airlines were using the new $172,000 terminal building.[8]
During World War II, the airport served first as the headquarters of the I Concentration Command, before being transferred to the Air Transport Command.[9]
Lunken Airport was supplanted by the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport after flooding from the Ohio River and introduction of larger aircraft that needed longer runways.[10] The flooding prompted the airport's nickname of "Sunken Lunken".[lower-alpha 1] During the Ohio River flood of 1937, the airfield and two-story main terminal building at the southwest corner of the airport were submerged, except for the third-floor air traffic control "tower". A plaque (which appears from ground level to be a single black brick) on the terminal building, facing the airfield, indicates the high-water mark.[13] The airport flooded again in 1945 and 1948.[14] However, the latter was not before the soon-to-be U.S. Air Force vacated the field in 1947.[15] As early as 1948 and continuing to at least 1966, the Greater Cincinnati Airmen's Club held an annual cross country air race at the airport.[16][17] In the early 1960s Conrad International Corporation, which upgraded Beechcraft 18s, was located at the airport.[18] In 1962, Wilmer Avenue, the western border of the airport, was moved westward.[19] In 1964 the FAA designated the airport as a general reliever airport. As business jet travel expanded, the 6,100-foot parallel runway 2R was added about 1965 (requiring relocation of the Little Miami River).[8] In 1967, its name was officially changed from "Lunken Field" to "Lunken Airport".[20] The airport manager was fired in 2004, following an attempt to solicit commercial flights from the airport.[21]
Today the old control tower is home to the Lunken Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, and is the oldest standing control tower in the United States.[22] The property also contains public recreation areas, including an 18-hole golf course, playgrounds, and walking/biking paths on the levee surrounding the airfield. In 2009 Ultimate Air Shuttle began operations at Lunken with a flight to Chicago–Midway, and has since expanded to four cities, including Chicago, New York, Charlotte, and Cleveland. Currently, many Cincinnati-area companies base their aircraft at the airport due to its proximity to downtown Cincinnati, but most airlines use Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.[2] Various proposals have taken place to add air service to the airport, including by Allegiant Air, which started operations at CVG instead, and Flamingo Air, which did not happen.[8]
A proposal to demolish 45 to 60 t-hangars and replace them with a corporate hangar was called off in 2018 after opposition from local pilots and the AOPA.[23][24] The same year, a fixed-base operator called Waypoint Aviation began operations out of a new 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) hangar at the airport.[25]
In 2021, the Mutual UFO Network announced that it was moving to the airport from California.[26] A report released in 2024 noted that Lunken was operating at half capacity and suggested that the city should lease it to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport was made in 2024.[27] Concurrently, the new airport manager moved forward with plans for a new customs office, the closure of runway 3L/21R and the removal of an old hangar.[28]
From 1971 to 1979, Neil Armstrong was an Aerospace Engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati. He would take students to Lunken Airport to teach them about aviation.[29]
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed at Lunken and was mobbed by well-wishers.[30] In 1964 a large crowd of fans greeted The Beatles as they flew into and out of Lunken for their concert at Cincinnati Gardens.[3]
Several U.S. presidents and other dignitaries have arrived at Lunken; on October 30, 2007, Air Force One landed at Lunken as President George W. Bush visited the abutting Cincinnati neighborhood of Hyde Park for a fundraiser for Republican Congressman Steve Chabot.[31] On October 22, 2008, Republican Presidential candidate Arizona Senator John McCain and vice-presidential candidate Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of 12,000 in hangar A-10. Gretchen Wilson performed to start the rally. Cindy McCain and Todd Palin were also in attendance. Introducing them was former Republican Congressman (later US Senator) Rob Portman.[32][33] In 2011, the airport served as a backdrop for scenes in the film The Ides of March.[34] On February 5, 2018, a Boeing C-32 flying as Air Force One landed at Lunken bringing President Donald Trump for an address to the employees of Sheffer Corporation in nearby Blue Ash.[citation needed]
The Sky Galley restaurant was in nearly continuous operation for decades, and is so named because the first meals served on a commercial airliner (American Airlines) were prepared here.[35][failed verification][36][failed verification][37][failed verification] The Sky Galley is housed in the terminal building and has large windows and a patio dining area facing the airfield, allowing views of small aircraft and corporate jets taking off and landing.[38][39] Formerly known as the Wings Restaurant, it was reopened in 1999 as the Sky Galley.[40] In 2019, the lease agreement for the restaurant was nearly cancelled by the city due to potential food safety risks reported by the Health Department.[41] After an online petition on change.org gained over 17,000 signatures, an agreement was reached in which the city would provide up to $100,000 to help renovate the restaurant and grant it another 5-year lease if the owner committed to correcting the violations.[42] However, due to the effects of COVID-19, the Sky Galley was forced to close in September 2020.[43] A proposal to replace it with a new restaurant and hotel was made in March 2021.[44] In December, the Cincinnati city council approved a multi-decade lease for the building to the developer vR Group.[45][46]
Cincinnati Municipal Airport – Lunken Field covers 1,140 acres (460 ha) and has three runways until July 1, 2024 when 3L/21R will be permanently closed and decommissioned :[1]
Thirty-eight T-hangars were built on the airport in 2001.[47][48]
The terminal building has two floors and is home to one of the oldest air traffic control towers in the United States. A small pilot supply shop called The Flight Depot is located on the first floor and the Cincinnati Aviation Heritage Society & Museum is on the second.[49][failed verification]
![]() | This section needs to be updated. (January 2022) |
Airlines | Destinations | Refs |
---|---|---|
Ultimate Air Shuttle | Atlanta–Peachtree, Charlotte (temporarily suspended), Nashville | [50] |
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2022, the airport had 114,630 aircraft operations, an average of 314 per day: 89% general aviation, 11% air taxi, <1% military and <1% scheduled commercial. In the year ending December 31, 2022, 150 aircraft were based at this airport: 76 single-engine, 55 jet, 12 multi-engine, 3 helicopter, and 4 gliders.[1]
Rank | City | Passengers | Carriers |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Cleveland, Ohio | 7,820 | Ultimate Air Shuttle |
2 | Chicago–Midway, Illinois | 5,970 | Ultimate Air Shuttle |
3 | Morristown, New Jersey | 4,530 | Ultimate Air Shuttle |
4 | Charlotte, North Carolina | 4,070 | Ultimate Air Shuttle |
5 | Atlanta, Georgia | 1,030 | Ultimate Air Shuttle |
Year | Total passengers | % Change |
---|---|---|
1929 | 8,528 | ![]() |
2005 | 451 | ![]() |
2006 | 729 | ![]() |
2007 | 636 | ![]() |
2008 | 2,039 | ![]() |
2009 | 0 | ![]() |
2010 | 0 | ![]() |
2011 | 0 | ![]() |
2012 | 27 | ![]() |
2013 | 0 | ![]() |
2014 | 24,490 | ![]() |
2015 | 31,750 | ![]() |
2016 | 49,530 | ![]() |
2017 | 52,000 | ![]() |
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