KAPA - Centennial Airport

Opened 1968
Annual Airport Operations (2018): 340,721

News Articles:

Colorado’s Centennial Airport Leads Unleaded Aviation Fuel Initiative with $300,000 Grant Approval - Colorado’s Centennial Airport secured approval for a $300,000 grant aimed at supporting a subsidy program for unleaded aviation fuel sales.  The initiative aims to incentivize the switch from leaded to unleaded aviation fuels by offsetting the higher costs of the new unleaded fuel by reimbursing pilots for the price difference. The move comes as the airport strives to proactively address community concerns over lead. - June 14, 2024

Unleaded UL94 Avgas Now Available at Centennial Airport - Considered the Nation’s third busiest general aviation airport, Centennial Airport, became the first public-use airport in the State of Colorado to offer unleaded aviation fuel to its piston-powered aircraft users. 

One of four aviation fuel providers located at the airport, jetCenter of Colorado became the first to take on a load of the unleaded avgas produced by Swift Fuels. 

Centennial’s move to unleaded avgas comes in response to the local community's voice and the Eliminate Aviation Gas Lead Emissions Program led by the Federal Aviation Administration. The program’s goal is to see a full nationwide transition from 100LL to unleaded avgas by the year 2030. 

With much of Centennial Airport’s traffic consisting of training flights, flight schools based at the airport have shown their support for the transition. To date, 80 percent of the aircraft operated by flight schools at Centennial Airport are now certified to safely use UL94 unleaded avgas. - May 8, 2023

Residents still have concerns after Centennial Airport becomes first to use unleaded fuel - May 3, 2023

Neighbors near Centennial Airport complain of increased traffic, noise - February 12, 2023

Woman worries she’ll be targeted for bringing concerns over Centennial airport noise - September 6, 2023 (editors note: she's not being targeted.  She lives under the controlled airspace in which the tower gives airplanes in that airspace a heading to fly).

Meetings:

Video of flying in and around KAPA from the FAA - Description: Centennial Airport (APA) is one of the 25 busiest airports in the nation, averaging 1,000 takeoffs and landings per day. It is 20 miles south-southwest of Denver International Airport, on the south end of the metro area near the Denver Tech Center, a major business district. Numerous flight schools and significant business jet and helicopter traffic, presents a challenging environment for pilots of all experience levels, and for the air traffic control operation. Closely-spaced parallel runways and taxiways and a complex network of uncontrolled ramp areas await pilots at Centennial as well. This video prepares pilots for hot spots and other challenges APA.

Angel Flight West missions flown:

Airport		Mission Count		Unique Passenger Count		Unique Pilot Count
KAPA		238		99		74

*mission stats from 1/1/2022 to 10/18/2023

Economic Impact

Jobs		Payroll		Value Added		Business Revenue
10,341		$593,537,000		$974,495,000		$2,087,182,000

Source: 2020 Colorado Aviation Economic Impact Study

Centennial Economic Impact Study