About FAA Central
The Central Region covers the agricultural heartland from the Missouri River west to the Nebraska panhandle. Its airport portfolio is dominated by mid-size regional airports that link rural counties into the national hub-and-spoke network. The FAA assigns each airport in the United States to one of nine administrative regions; this region's office at Kansas City, MO handles airport certification, safety inspections, federal-grant coordination, and overall coordination with the air-traffic-control facilities physically inside its territory.
For travelers, the most useful thing to know about a region is which of its airports is the closest hub for the trip you are planning, and which secondary or regional airports could spare you a longer drive to the major hub. The featured airports below cover the largest gateways inside the Central Region, and the state list below that gives you a way to drill into every public-use airport the region covers.
States & territories in the Central region
| State / territory | Code | Total airports | Large hubs | Medium hubs | Regional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | IA |
232 | 1 | 9 | 222 |
| Kansas | KS |
391 | 0 | 15 | 376 |
| Missouri | MO |
434 | 2 | 11 | 421 |
| Nebraska | NE |
239 | 1 | 13 | 225 |
Featured airports inside the Central region
Des Moines International Airport
Large hub · field elevation 958 ft
Kansas City International Airport
Large hub · field elevation 1,026 ft
St. Louis Lambert International Airport
Large hub · field elevation 618 ft
Eppley Airfield
Large hub · field elevation 984 ft
Dubuque Regional Airport
Medium hub · field elevation 1,077 ft
Fort Dodge Regional Airport
Medium hub · field elevation 1,156 ft
Mason City Municipal Airport
Medium hub · field elevation 1,213 ft
Northeast Iowa Regional Airport
Medium hub · field elevation 1,125 ft
Ottumwa Regional Airport
Medium hub · field elevation 845 ft
Sioux Gateway Airport / Brigadier General Bud Day Field
Medium hub · field elevation 1,098 ft
Southeast Iowa Regional Airport
Medium hub · field elevation 698 ft
The Eastern Iowa Airport
Medium hub · field elevation 869 ft