Avery County Airport

About Us

Summertime density altitude can exceed 5,500 ft. This greatly reduces aircraft performance. Consult the performance charts and your aircraft POH before departing. Avery County Airport is a mountain airport and pilots should be aware of the possibility of localized and un forecast turbulence when flying in mountainous areas.

The Avery County Airport was started by a group of local business men in the 1950's It was a 2400 feet grassland runway. A delegation of businessmen made a trip to Washington, DC met with our District Representatives and persuaded them to fund the airport through the FAA. In the 90's the Avery County Airport Authority was formed by the North Carolina legislature. At that time the airport was designated a municipality and awarded a grant to pave the runway which was extended to its current length of 3001 ft. Starting 2017 the runway was repaved and weight was upgraded to 18,000 pounds per single gear. A new fueling system was installed in 2018 with 100 octane low level aviation fuel and Jet A. The fuel pumps are credit card equipped for self-service convenience. Presently there are 27 privately owned hangers and space is available for additional growth.

Avery County Airport (7A8) is located 4 miles Northeast of Spruce Pine, NC and 10 miles Southwest of Newland, NC. The runway is 3001 feet long by 60 feet wide with a 120 foot overrun on the South end and 170 feet on the North end. The runway has a 3% slope on it which causes 35 to be desirable for landing and 17 for takeoff. A right hand turn out is recommended after takeoff from runway 17.