| Darke County Airport | |
| Icao: | KVES |
| Faa: | VES |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | Darke County Commissioners |
| City-Served: | Versailles, Ohio |
| Elevation-F: | 1,007 |
| Coordinates: | 40.2044°N -84.5319°W |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Ohio#USA |
| Pushpin Relief: | yes |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Ohio |
| Pushpin Label: | VES |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| R1-Number: | 9/27 |
| R1-Length-F: | 4,802 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2021 |
| Stat1-Header: | Aircraft operations |
| Stat1-Data: | 12,775 |
| Stat2-Header: | Based aircraft |
| Stat2-Data: | 29 |
| Footnotes: | Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] |
| R1-Length-M: | 1,464 |
| Utc: | -5 |
| Utcs: | -4 |
Darke County Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport in Darke County, Ohio, United States. It is located two nautical miles (4 km) southwest of the central business district of Versailles. It is along State Route 121 just south of Versailles. Midmark operates a private jet from this airport. The airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.[2]
Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, this airport is assigned VES by the FAA, but has no designation from the IATA.[3] [4]
In 2007, light lenses were stolen from the airport. Officials said the theft could endanger pilots.[5]
The airport holds events such as fly-ins that feature old warbird aircraft, medical helicopters, and highway patrol aircraft.[6] [7]
CareFlight Air & Mobile has a helicopter based at the airport, which serves as the company's northwest base. The helicopter was activated to respond to calls in early 2020.[8]
Darke County Airport covers an area of 42 acres (17 ha) at an elevation of 1,007 feet (307 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 9/27 with an asphalt surface measuring 4,802 by 75 feet (1,464 x 23 m).[9]
The airport has a fixed-base operator that sells both avgas and Jet A. Services such as hangars, courtesy cars, and rental cars are available; amenities such as internet, conference rooms, vending machines, a crew lounge, snooze rooms, and more are also available.[10]
In 2012, a section of State Route 242 was closed to allow the airport to use all of its runway surface for landings; with the road in place, planes need to approach at a higher altitude and touch down further down the runway to meet FAA obstacle clearance requirements.[11]
In 2022, the Dark County Airport received $1.35 million to upgrade its FBO terminal, including funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act.[12] [13] Construction on the new airport terminal began in 2023, and a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the airport was held in spring 2024.[14] The facility aims at expanding the airport's attraction, especially as traffic increases.[15] [16]
Additional funding was received in 2023 to improve the terminal's facilities.[17] [18]
For the 12-month period ending September 29, 2021, the airport had 12,775 aircraft operations, an average of 35 per day: 87% general aviation, 5% air taxi, and <1% military.At that time there were 29 aircraft based at the airport: 25 single-engine and 2 multi-engine airplanes as well as 1 jet and 1 helicopter.