Delaware Coastal Airport is a public use airport in unincorporated Sussex County, Delaware, United States. Owned by the Sussex County Council, it is located two nautical miles (4 km) southeast of the central business district of Georgetown. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a regional general aviation facility. The airport is known locally by various unofficial names, including County Airport and, especially, Georgetown Airport. In mid-June 2015, the Sussex County Council voted to rename the airport from Sussex County Airport to Delaware Coastal Airport. The rebranding was part of a $40 million effort to modernize the facility and boost economic development. The airport is home to the Delaware Aviation Museum, which features World War 2 aviation artifacts. The airport is also home to the Jeffrey Ethell Memorial Aviation Library, which houses more than 3,000 aviation-related books and is considered the largest aviation library on the U.S. east coast. Though U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not operate a facility at the airport, they do accept international arrivals at the airport with prior notice.

Facilities and aircraft

Delaware Coastal Airport covers an area of 615 acres (249 ha) at an elevation of 53 feet (16 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways with asphalt surfaces: 4/22 is 5,500 by 150 feet (1,676 x 46 m) and 10/28 is 3,109 by 75 feet (948 x 23 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2018, the airport had 34,310 aircraft operations, an average of 94 per day. It is 98% general aviation, 1% air taxi, and <0.4% military. At that time, there were 67 aircraft based at this airport: 48 single-engine and 8 multi-engine airplanes, 7 helicopters, and 4 jets. In 2018, the airport received a $5.5 million federal grant to construct a taxiway parallel to the main runway and improve the approach systems for landing aircraft. In 2019, the airport received additional grants from the Federal Aviation Administration to help it continue to grow. Funds were used to extend the airport's runway and allow larger aircraft to use the airport. In 2022, multiple new hangars were built at the airport to support more aircraft. New self-serve fuel facilities were also constructed. The new hangars' tenants, Schell Aviation, tore down old hangars to build the new facilities that could store aircraft and allow Schell to offer maintenance services to transient aircraft.

Accidents and incidents