Raleigh County Memorial Airport

Not to be confused with Raleigh–Durham International Airport in North Carolina.

Raleigh County Memorial Airport
USGS orthophoto of Raleigh County Memorial Airport
IATA: BKW ICAO: KBKW FAA LID: BKW
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Raleigh County Airport Authority
Serves	Raleigh County, West Virginia
Location	176 Airport Road, Beaver, West Virginia, United States
Elevation  AMSL	2,504 ft / 763 m
Coordinates	37°47′14″N081°07′27″W / 37.78722°N 81.12417°W / 37.78722; -81.12417
Website	www.FlyBeckley.com
Maps
BKW Show map of West Virginia BKW Show map of the United States
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 1/19 6,750 2,057 Asphalt 10/28 5,001 1,524 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Aircraft operations (year ending 4/30/2022) 23,181 Based aircraft 33
Sources: Airport [1] and FAA [2]

Raleigh County Memorial Airport ^{[1] [2]} ( IATA : BKW, ICAO : KBKW, FAA LID : BKW) is approximately three miles east of the city of Beckley, in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. It is both owned and operated by the Raleigh County Airport Authority. ^[2] The airport is used for general aviation and sees one scheduled passenger airline, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 3,630 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, ^[3] 2,626 in 2009 and 2,429 in 2010. ^[4] The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a non-primary commercial service airport based on enplanements in 2008, (between 2,500 and 10,000) ^[5] but would later categorize it as general aviation based on the number of enplanements in 2010 (under 2,500).

The airport opened in 1950–52 with a 4,200-foot, east-west runway; the first airline flights were Piedmont DC-3s in 1952. (The last Piedmont YS-11 left in 1981.) The runway was extended to 5,000 ft in the 1950s, and the 6,750 ft runway 1/19 was constructed between 1975 and 1979.

In 2005, the airport was the least busy airport in the United States that also had an airline service, with a total of 2,578 passengers served during that year. ^[6]

Facilities

The airport covers 1,433 acres (580 ha) at an elevation of 2,504 feet (763 m). It has two asphalt runways: 1/19 is 6,750 by 150 feet (2,057 x 46 m) and 10/28 is 5,001 by 100 feet (1,524 x 30 m). ^[2]

In the year ending April 30, 2022, the airport had 23,181 aircraft operations, which was an average of 63 per day: 85% general aviation, 6% air taxi, and 9% military. 33 aircraft were then based at the airport: 21 single-engine, 7 multi-engine, 4 jet, and 1 helicopter. ^[2]

Airline and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations	Refs.
Contour Airlines	Charlotte, Parkersburg	[7]

Cargo

FedEx Feeder is operated at the field by Mountain Air Cargo.^{[ citation needed ]} UPS Airlines is operated by Air Cargo Carriers.^{[ citation needed ]}

Statistics

Busiest domestic routes from Raleigh County Airport (BKW)
(May 2024 – April 2025) ^[8]

Rank	City	Passengers
1	Charlotte, North Carolina	5,690
2	Parkersburg, West Virginia	530

See also

• List of airports in West Virginia

References

1. Raleigh County Memorial Airport, official website
2. FAA Airport Form 5010 for BKW PDF . Federal Aviation Administration. Effective August 10, 2023.
3. "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). CY 2008 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.
4. "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). CY 2010 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
5. "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF, 2.03 MB). National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010.
6. Reed, Dan (September 26, 2006). "U.S. airports, by the numbers". USA Today . Retrieved June 25, 2008.
7. "Route Map". Contour Airlines . Retrieved April 22, 2024.
8. "RITA | BTS | Transtats". Bureau of Transportation Statistics. January 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.

Other sources

• Essential Air Service documents (Docket DOT-OST-1997-2761) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
  • Order 2004-6-14 (June 18, 2004): selecting Colgan Air, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to continue providing essential air service at Beckley and Bluefield/Princeton, West Virginia, for the two-year period beginning August 1, 2004, at an annual subsidy of $2,017,064.
  • Order 2006-7-2 (July 3, 2006): selecting Colgan Air, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to provide essential air service at Beckley, West Virginia, for a new two-year period beginning August 1, 2006, at a subsidy of $1,930,759 annually.
  • Order 2008-6-14 (June 10, 2008): re-selecting Pinnacle Airlines, Corp. d/b/a Colgan Air, Inc., to continue to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Beckley, West Virginia, for the two-year period beginning August 1, 2008, at the annual subsidy rate of $2,092,844.
  • Order 2010-6-25 (June 29, 2010): re-selecting Colgan Air, Inc. to provide essential air service (EAS) at Clarksburg/Fairmont and Morgantown, WV, for a combined annual subsidy of $2,976,438, and at Beckley, WV, for an annual subsidy of $2,313, 457, for the two-year period from August 1, 2010, through July 31, 2012. Also selecting Gulfstream International Airlines, Inc., to provide EAS at Parkersburg, WV/Marietta, OH, at an annual subsidy rate of $2,642,237, for a two-year period beginning when the carrier inaugurates full EAS through the end of the 24th month thereafter. The total annual subsidy for all four communities is $7,923,132.
  • Order 2012-4-32 (April 30, 2012): selecting Silver Airways to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) at Beckley, Clarksburg/Fairmont ("Clarksburg") and Morgantown, West Virginia, for a combined annual subsidy of $5,968,744 ($2,512,494 for Beckley; $3,456,250 for Clarksburg and Morgantown), for the two-year period beginning when the carrier begins full EAS at all three communities.

External links

• Official website
• Aerial image as of April 1996 from USGS The National Map
• FAA Terminal Procedures for BKW , effective August 7, 2025
• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for BKW
  • AirNav airport information for KBKW
  • ASN accident history for BKW
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures