North Central State Airport

North Central State Airport
USGS 2006 orthophoto
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerState of Rhode Island
OperatorRhode Island Airport Corporation
Location300 Jenckes Hill Road
Smithfield, Rhode Island
United States
OpenedDecember 15, 1951; 73 years ago (1951-12-15)
Time zoneEST (UTC-05:00:00)
 • Summer (DST)EDT (UTC-04:00:00)
Elevation AMSL441 ft / 134 m
Coordinates41°55′15″N 071°29′29″W / 41.92083°N 71.49139°W / 41.92083; -71.49139
Websitewww.flynorthcentralairport.com
Map
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
05/23 5,000 1,524 Asphalt
15/33 3,211 979 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Aircraft operations (year ending 5/31/2023)14,687
Based aircraft34

North Central State Airport (IATA: SFZ, ICAO: KSFZ, FAA LID: SFZ) is a public use airport in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The airport is owned by the State of Rhode Island and opened for service in 1951. It serves the northern portion of the Providence metropolitan area and is located 3 nmi (3.5 mi; 5.6 km) east of the central business district of Smithfield.[1] It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027, in which it is categorized as a local reliever facility.[2]

The airport is situated in the towns of Smithfield[3] and Lincoln. It is located in the upper region of the state and is roughly horizontally centered in the state, hence the name North Central. It is designated as a reliever airport for general aviation activity from T.F. Green Airport.[3]

North Central State Airport is one of six active airports operated by the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, the other five being T.F. Green State Airport, Quonset State Airport, Westerly State Airport, Newport State Airport, and Block Island State Airport.

Like all state-owned airports in Rhode Island, there is a US$5 landing fee for any aircraft not registered in Rhode Island.

Facilities and aircraft

North Central State Airport covers an area of 475 acres (192 ha; 1.92 km2) at an elevation of 441 ft (134 m) above mean sea level.

It has two asphalt paved runways:

  • Runway 5/23 is 5,000 by 100 ft (1,524 by 30 m)[1]
  • Runway 15/33 is 3,211 by 75 ft (979 by 23 m)[1]

Runway 5/23 is used more often than Runway 15/33 due to crosswinds.

For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2023, the airport had 14,687 aircraft operations, an average of 40 per day: 95% general aviation, 4% air taxi and <1% military. At that time there were 34 aircraft based at this airport: 32 single-engine, 1 multi-engine, and 1 helicopter.[1]

It is a non-towered airport catering to private pilots and general aviation; the aircraft seen there are usually either piston or light jet aircraft. The airport is not able to serve large airliners, and the use of North Central for these types of aircraft is purely emergency-related. The airport is the base for a repair facility.

Airlines

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e FAA Airport Form 5010 for SFZ PDF, effective 2023-08-10.
  2. ^ "NPIAS Report 2023-2027 Appendix A" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 6 October 2022. p. 106. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b North Central State Airport (SFZ) page from Rhode Island Airport Corp.
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