| Southwest Washington Regional Airport | |
| Iata: | KLS |
| Icao: | KKLS |
| Faa: | KLS |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | City of Kelso |
| City-Served: | Longview-Kelso Metropolitan Area |
| Elevation-F: | 20 |
| Elevation-M: | 6 |
| Coordinates: | 46.1181°N -122.8983°W |
| Website: | Official site |
| R1-Number: | 12/30 |
| R1-Length-F: | 4,391 |
| R1-Length-M: | 1,338 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2008 |
| Stat1-Header: | Aircraft operations |
| Stat1-Data: | 40,860 |
| Stat2-Header: | Based aircraft |
| Stat2-Data: | 71 |
| Footnotes: | Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] |
Southwest Washington Regional Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located two nautical miles (3.7 km) southeast of the central business district of Kelso, in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. The airport was renamed in 2009,[2] prior to which it was known as the Kelso-Longview Regional Airport, or Molt Taylor Field, named after flying car designer Moulton Taylor.
Kelso-Longview Airport opened in May 1941 on 109acres of a nearby dairy farm,[3] as a training field for amateur pilots, and has since become a regional transportation center for southwest Washington. In 1950 the old landing strip was paved and in the 1960s the first administration and terminal buildings were built. Further improvements were completed in the 1980s due to increasing traffic.
Southwest Washington Regional Airport covers an area of 110acres at an elevation of 20 feet (6 m) above mean sea level. It has one asphalt paved runway designated 12/30 which measures 4,391 x 100feet. (1,338 x 30 m). It is separated for takeoffs and landings (the airport, faced with growing air traffic, segmented its runway in 1980).
For the 12-month period ending March 30, 2008, the airport had 40,860 aircraft operations, an average of 111 per day: 94% general aviation, 4% air taxi and 2% military. At that time there were 71 aircraft based at this airport: 85% single-engine, 10% multi-engine, 1% jet and 4% ultralight.
The airport has one passenger terminal.[4]
There is one flight school located at the airport.[5]