Located eight kilometres to the north of Fort Lauderdale’s downtown area, the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport operates as a general aviation facility and a reliever airport for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. It serves around 250,000 aircraft per year, with full customs facilities and a 24 hour, seven days a week Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting team.
While the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport doesn’t serve commercial airlines, it does meet numerous general aviation needs, including corporate aviation, air charters, air ambulance services, flight training, aircraft refurbishing and maintenance, as well as aircraft refuelling and parking. It is owned and operated by the City of Fort Lauderdale and sprawls across around 404 hectares and two runways within the uptown district of the city. It is home to the internationally recognised flight academy at the Miami Flight Centre, with its multiple instrument approaches and 24-hour air traffic control tower providing an ideal setting for up-and-coming pilots to hone their skills. There is also a Fort Lauderdale Police Substation on site, and the airport grounds provide a home for two rare native Florida fauna species, the gopher tortoise and the Florida burrowing owl.
The Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport is connected to the downtown area by public bus services, with stops on West Cypress Creek Road. There is an extensive public car parking are, as well as taxi services available.
The airport first opened in 1941 as the West Prospect Satellite Field and was designed to train World War II Naval Aviators. At the end of the war, its operation was transferred to Fort Lauderdale for use as a public airport facility.