ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. – Elizabethtown Regional Airport, located in central Kentucky, recently announced the activation of a new Instrument Landing System (ILS). Members of the Elizabethtown Airport Board announced the activation of the ILS at the airport, located at Addington Field in Elizabethtown.
The City of Elizabethtown funded the ILS, which will improve safety during landing and takeoff, upgrade accessibility for a wide variety of aircrafts, and raise its capacity for future growth.
An ILS is a runway approach aid that provides pilots with greater lateral and vertical guidance on approach using radio beams. The use of an ILS improves safety by enhancing situation and position awareness and providing important visual cues for making a stabilized approach. In most cases, aircraft using Elizabethtown Airport’s ILS will be able to land even when the ceiling and visibility are low, including at night or in bad weather.
Previously in these situations, pilots would have to divert to airports in surrounding communities such as Louisville, Lexington or Bowling Green.
The new technology supports the increased aircraft traffic coming in and out of the Elizabethtown Regional Airport from the area’s growing economic development interest and opportunities.
“This ILS system will not only attract more air traffic to Elizabethtown, but it will also create more opportunity for business development,” said Elizabethtown-Hardin County Industrial Foundation President and COO Rick Games. “Our community will see more corporate traffic take advantage of our airfield because of the increased accessibility and ease of access this system provides. We are grateful for the city leaders – past and present – as well as airport leaders who realize the value of this infrastructure for our growing region.”
The ILS was fully funded over a three-year period starting in 2015 by the City of Elizabethtown.
“The City of Elizabethtown is proud to partner with the Elizabethtown Airport on the implementation of this new system,” said Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory. “Our city’s previous leadership was forward-thinking and saw the impact this system could have. I, along with the City Council and countless city employees, have been proud to see this project through as we too believe it will continue to offer our community more opportunities for growth.”
The ILS system will also increase the airport’s capacity for pilot training.
