Topeka Regional Airport facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Topeka Regional Airport
USGS 2002 orthophoto
IATA: FOE ICAO: KFOE FAA LID: FOE
Summary
Airport type	Military/Public
Owner	Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority
Serves	Topeka, Kansas
Elevation AMSL	1,078 ft / 329 m
Coordinates	38°57′03″N 95°39′49″W / 38.95083°N 95.66361°W / 38.95083; -95.66361
Website	http://www.mtaa-topeka.org
Map
FAA airport diagram
Runway
Runway Length Surface ft m 13/31 12,803 3,902 Concrete 3/21 7,001 2,134 Concrete
Statistics (2021)
Aircraft operations (year ending 10/31/2021) 30,086 Based aircraft 33
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Topeka Regional Airport (IATA: FOE, ICAO: KFOE, FAA LID: FOE), also known as Forbes Field, is an airport in Shawnee County, Kansas. It is located about seven miles south of downtown Topeka, the capital city of Kansas. This airport is used by both the public and the military.

The University of Kansas (KU) uses Topeka Regional Airport for special flights. These flights carry their sports teams and other schools visiting the KU campus in Lawrence. Lawrence is about 34 miles (55 km) east of the airport. The airport used to have regular passenger flights, but these stopped in 2014.

History of Topeka Regional Airport

Topeka Regional Airport has a long and interesting past. It was once a large military base called Topeka Army Air Field, and later Forbes Air Force Base. This base was very important for the United States Air Force.

In 1973, Forbes Air Force Base closed down. Most of the land was given to the city of Topeka and Shawnee County in 1976. This allowed the airport to become a public airport. At that time, all regular airline flights in Topeka moved to this new location, which was still called Forbes Field.

A new airport terminal was built and finished in 1985. This terminal has counters for airline tickets and rental cars. Today, it is used for charter flights and military planes.

In 2012, the airport's name was changed to Topeka Regional Airport and Business Center. However, the airfield itself is still known as Forbes Field. The airport is also home to the Kansas Air National Guard. They have a special military area there called Forbes Field Air National Guard Base.

How Airline Service Changed Over Time

Airline service at Topeka began in the early 1930s with a small mail carrier. By the 1940s, larger airlines like Trans World Airlines (TWA), Braniff International Airways, and Continental Airlines offered flights. They used planes like the Douglas DC-3. These early flights often made many stops between cities.

By the 1960s, Central Airlines was the main airline serving Topeka. Later, Frontier Airlines took over and offered flights to cities like Kansas City and Denver.

After moving to the current Forbes Field in 1976, new airlines started offering jet service. Frontier Airlines used Boeing 737-200 jets for flights to Kansas City, Denver, and Chicago. Other airlines like Capitol Air Service and Trans Central Airlines also offered flights.

In the 1980s, the airport was very busy, handling up to 180,000 passengers each year. Midway Airlines and United Airlines also provided jet service during this time.

Air Midwest became a key airline, offering flights to Kansas City and St. Louis. They often partnered with larger airlines like Eastern Airlines and US Airways.

However, in the 1990s, the number of passengers dropped a lot. In 2003, all regular passenger service ended because of new rules about government help for small airports.

After a few years, Allegiant Air offered flights to Las Vegas in 2006 and 2007. The most recent attempt to bring back regular flights was in 2014. United Express started flying to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. But this service only lasted for eight months and stopped on September 2, 2014. Since then, the airport has not had any regular airline service.

United Express was the most recent airline at Topeka, with non-stop flights to Chicago-O'Hare that ended in September 2014.

Airport Facilities

Topeka Regional Airport covers a large area of about 2,854 acres (1,155 hectares). It is located 1,078 feet (329 meters) above sea level.

The airport has two concrete runways:

• Runway 13/31 is 12,803 feet (3,902 meters) long and 200 feet (61 meters) wide.
• Runway 3/21 is 7,001 feet (2,134 meters) long and 150 feet (46 meters) wide.

In the year ending October 31, 2021, the airport had over 30,000 aircraft operations. This means planes took off or landed about 82 times each day. Most of these operations were military flights (60%) or general aviation (38%). Only a small number were air taxi or airline flights.

There were 33 aircraft based at the airport at that time. These included single-engine planes, multi-engine planes, jets, helicopters, and military aircraft.

Airlines and Destinations

Topeka Regional Airport has not had any regular airline service since September 2, 2014.