# Kirksville Regional Airport

Kirksville Regional Airport (IATA: IRK, ICAO: KIRK, FAA LID: IRK) is four miles south of Kirksville, Missouri, on the west side of US Highway 63. One airline provides scheduled passenger flights, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.
Contour Airlines is the current airline serving Kirksville, with 12 weekly flights to Chicago O'Hare International Airport using CRJ and Embraer 135 regional jets. Contour began its Kirksville service on August 1, 2023, and offers either one or two round trips per day between Chicago and Kirksville. Before that, Cape Air provided three daily round trips between Kirksville and St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Cape Air notified the city in October 2022 of their plans to terminate their service, and the Kirksville City Council approved a contract with Contour in February 2023.
Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 4,281 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2023, down from 4,667 in 2022. The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2025–2029 categorized it as a Regional facility with nonprimary commercial service. The commercial service category requires at least 2,500 enplanements per year.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in March 2025 to mark the start of construction of a new 6,500 square foot terminal at Kirksville, which will be nearly double the size of the current building. Completion of the project is planned for July 2026.

## History

In 1924, Roy B. "Cap" Dodson started the first airport in the area, located on the north edge of Kirksville. However, an airfield at the present location of Kirksville Regional Airport wasn't created until 1930 when the Federal Aviation Administration built a series of emergency landing strips across the nation. With America's entry into World War II, the Kirksville Municipal Airport, as it had been declared in the late 1930s, received a major upgrade from the Civilian Pilots Training Program and the US Army Air Corps War Training Service. In 1942 a paved all-weather landing strip, hangars, a control tower and small restaurant were built; the paved runway was 3870 feet until 1968.
In 1960, Ozark Air Lines began scheduled flights. The Ozark route began in Kansas City to Chicago with stops in Kirksville, Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Moline, Illinois. Airport improvements came after a bond issue was approved by Kirksville voters in 1967. A new six-thousand foot concrete runway was built, as well as a new terminal building and improved hangar facilities. The longer runway was needed for the faster Fairchild prop-jet that began flights to Kirksville in late 1968. Also in the 1960s, Ozark switched Kirksville service from a Kansas City-Chicago route to a Des Moines-to-St. Louis one. With the airport improvements came a new name, Clarence Cannon Memorial Airport—chosen to honor long-time US Congressman Clarence Cannon of Missouri who had done much to help secure air service and funding for the airport.
Ozark Airlines flew their final route on April 23, 1976. Fortunately a local pilot and dentist, Dr. Stephen Barber, had established a small commuter air service, Horizon Airways, in 1972. Horizon was able to help fill the void left by Ozarks departure, eventually expanding to five aircraft and service to both Kansas City and St. Louis.
From 1978 to 1987, Kirksville was served by Green Hills Aviation with commuter flights to St. louis.
From 1987 through 1989, Midcontinent Airlines flew to Kansas City as Braniff Express on behalf of Braniff (1983-1990).
Kirksville went without commercial service during 1990 until Redwing Airways began commuter flights to Kansas City which continued until 2001.
From 2001 through 2006 Corporate Airlines, which later became RegionsAir, provided flights to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The carrier first operated as Trans World Express on behalf of TWA then as American Connection on behalf of American Airlines.
Air Midwest (operating as US Airways Express) provided flights to Kansas City International Airport from 2006 through 2008.
Kirksville went without service from mid-2008 through mid-2009 until Air Choice One began scheduled flight operations twice daily, to and from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport during July 2009.
In September, 2010 Cape Air replaced Air Choice One with service to St. Louis that continued until 2023.
In November 2022, Cape Air notified Kirksville of their plans to terminate service. However, the airline was still required to continue their flights until the city selected a replacement. The Kirksville City Council approved a contract on February 6, 2023 with Contour Airlines, with 12 flights per week beginning in June 2023 to Chicago O'Hare International Airport using Embraer 135 regional jets. This is the first jet service to Kirksville.
Scheduled operations are currently subsidized by the Essential Air Service Act.

## Facilities

The airport covers 476 acres (193 ha) at an elevation of 966 feet (294 m). It has two runways: 18/36 is 6,005 by 100 feet (1,830 x 30 m) concrete; 9/27 is 1,370 by 100 feet (418 x 30 m) turf.
In the year ending April 30, 2023 the airport had 5,888 aircraft operations, average 113 per week: 50% general aviation, 37% airline, 12% air taxi, and <1% military. 20 aircraft were then based at the airport: 17 single-engine, 2 multi-engine, and 1 jet.

## Airline and destination

| Airlines | Destinations | Refs. |
| Contour Airlines | Chicago–O'Hare | |

## Incidents

* On October 19, 2004, Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashed on approach to Kirksville. Thirteen individuals died and two sustained injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determined pilot error to be the cause of the accident.
* On May 12, 2005 a Midwest Airlines Boeing 717 made an emergency landing at Kirksville Regional Airport after encountering icing and subsequent pilot induced loss of control. To date it is the largest aircraft to have landed at Kirksville Airport.
* On November 5, 2013 American business executive Robert Groh, President of Geo-Syntheics, LLC, and an instructor pilot were killed when their plane crashed on final approach to Kirksville Regional Airport. The plane, a Piper PA-32 Saratoga, went down in a rural area of Adair County approximately 2.5 miles northeast of the runway shortly after a radio check-in with airport personnel. At that time the pilot reported no difficulties. The plane was on a cross-country flight from Centennial Airport near Denver, Colorado to Waukesha, Wisconsin, the home city for Geo-Syntheics.