KPLN
Pellston Regional Airport of Emmet County Airport
VFR
-
Name
Pellston Regional Airport of Emmet County Airport
-
ICAO / IATA / GPS
KPLN / PLN / KPLN
- Type
- Restriction
- Region
-
Timezone
9:58 pm (EST)
-
Municipality
Pellston
-
Coordinates
45° 34′ 15″ N 84° 47′ 48″ W
-
Elevation
721 ft (220 m MSL)
About Pellston Regional Airport of Emmet County Airport
Pellston Regional Airport (IATA: PLN, ICAO: KPLN, FAA LID: PLN), also known as Pellston Regional Airport of Emmet County, is a public airport located one mile (1.6 km) northwest of the central business district of Pellston, a village in Emmet County, Michigan, United States. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a non-hub primary commercial service facility.
Mainly a general aviation airport, Pellston Regional Airport also functions as the primary commercial airport for the sparsely populated northern tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, owing to its location halfway between the region's primary cities, Petoskey and Cheboygan, as well as its proximity to the tourist centers of Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island. One commercial airline, SkyWest (doing business as Delta Connection), currently serves Pellston Regional with three departures and three arrivals daily.
The 35,000-square-foot (3,252 m2) northern lodge-themed passenger terminal building was constructed in 2003 and designed by architect Paul W. Powers. The new passenger terminal building replaced a smaller terminal building that was demolished. Wireless internet service is available throughout the terminal at no charge to travelers.
The airport has commercial service on Delta Air Lines with regional jets operated by SkyWest Airlines. SkyWest generated controversy when it announced plans to operate Essential Air Service (EAS) flights to Pellston as tag flights from Detroit continuing on to Escanaba, another EAS community, and then ending in Minneapolis. The airline cited pilot shortages for the need to condense their flights to the two cities.