Laughlin AFB Airport (KDLF), Texas
Landing essentials
Whether you can land, whether you can refuel, and how customs works here.
Overview
Laughlin AFB (KDLF) is a private-use, towered military airfield near Del Rio, Texas, operated by Air Education and Training Command for undergraduate pilot training. The field runs three paved runways up to 8,852 feet and supports a busy student training environment layered with arresting gear, restricted taxiways, and defined civilian traffic corridors. Access is limited to military aircraft only, with prior permission required through base operations, and transient business aviation activity remains minimal given the field's mission focus.
Runways
Laughlin AFB Airport has three paved runways. The longest, 13C/31C, is 8,852 ft long and 150 ft wide, with a bituminous surface.
Runway geometry from published threshold coordinates. Not for navigation.
Runways are listed longest first.
Source: FAA Form 5010.
Fuel and airfield services
The airport has an operating control tower.
Source: FAA Form 5010 / NASR.
Customs
Laughlin AFB Airport does not clear customs. The nearest port of entry is Del Rio International (KDRT), 8 NM away.
Source: CBP list of ports of entry.
Business aviation traffic
Laughlin AFB Airport recorded 32 business aviation movements in 2025. Traffic peaks in March, April and August. Business aviation traffic at KDLF is concentrated in the March-April and August-September periods, with several months showing little to no recorded activity.
Business jet movements, FAA TFMSC count. Peak month March, 6 movements in 2025.
Source: FAA TFMSC, business jet movements, 2025.
Climate
Laughlin AFB Airport averages 29.0 days above 90°F in August and 4.3 freeze days in January. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 101.0°F, and January the coldest, at 67.5°F.
Weather station is 7.9 NM from the field. Some values are estimated by the agency. 1991–2020 climate normals.
Source: NOAA NCEI.
Operating constraints
Laughlin AFB Airport has published operating constraints in five categories: access, runway notes, emergency arresting systems, noise procedures and other notes.
Restricted: overhead approaches are not authorized for transient aircraft during student training operations. Expect radar vectors for ILS, localizer, or straight-in approaches and full-stop landings during student training.
Restricted: prior permission required. Contact base operations.
Traffic pattern: due to the close proximity of the runways, once established on final approach, transient aircraft must remain aligned with runway 13C-31C to avoid T-6 traffic landing on runway 13R-31L at 2,100 feet and traffic landing on runway 13L-31R between 2,100 and 2,600 feet.
Runway 13C-31C PAPI operates during operating hours.
Service lighting: runway 13C-31C PAPI and ILS reference point indicators are not coincidental.
The first 300 feet of runway 13C/31C is grooved concrete; the middle 8,252 feet is grooved asphalt.
The first 1,000 feet of runway 13L-31R is grooved concrete; the middle 6,315 feet is grooved asphalt.
Caution: a lighted windcone is located 249 feet west of the runway 13C centerline, south of taxiway A. A second lighted windcone is located 211 feet west of the runway 13C centerline, north of taxiway E.
Caution: runway supervisor units are located 230 feet west of runway 13C abeam the 7,000-foot remaining marker, 236 feet west of runway 31C abeam the 7,000-foot remaining marker, and 221 feet east of runway 31R abeam the 5,500-foot remaining marker.
Restricted: runway 31L threshold is displaced 330 feet. Do not land prior to the runway threshold; the displaced threshold may be used for takeoff on runway 31L and for landing rollout on runway 13R. On runway 13R, do not use the opposite end displaced threshold for takeoff computations or takeoff roll.
Runway condition reading is unavailable. Runway condition code is not reported. No runway surface condition information is available when the tower is closed.
Restricted: runway 13R/31L is for local use only.
Restricted: all aircraft must cross the departure end of all runways at or below 1,600 feet MSL.
Restricted: all aircraft must cross the departure end of all runways at or below 1,600 feet MSL for VMC departures.
Caution: twenty-seven security light poles along the edge of the parking apron have no obstruction lighting.
Service lighting: four runway edge lights are missing on runway 13C/31C opposite the intersections with taxiway J and taxiway D. Three groups of taxiway lights are installed more than 10 feet from the taxiway edges, at the intersection of taxiway B and taxiway G on both sides, taxiway C and taxiway G on both sides, and the east side of taxiway G adjacent to the apron. Double blue taxiway entrance/exit lights are missing at taxiway A and runway 13L/31R north side, taxiway A and runway 13R/31L south side, taxiway H and runway 13C/31C southwest side, and taxiway E and runway 13R/31L southwest side.
BAK-15 arresting gear, chained, with a 151-foot overrun.
BAK-15 arresting gear, chained, with a 115-foot overrun.
BAK-15 arresting gear, chained, with a 155-foot overrun.
Arresting gear: BAK-15 is installed on the departure end of runway 13C-31C and runway 13L-31R. Approach over the raised barrier at the opposite end is prohibited.
Noise abatement: AETC quiet hour policy is in effect from 0400 to 1200Z daily. No takeoffs, low approaches, or touch-and-go landings are permitted during this period.
Caution: all departing aircraft must cross the 2 DME fix at or below 3,000 feet to ensure separation from the civilian corridor.
Restricted: all aircraft with a wingspan larger than a C-130 are restricted.
Fluid: special pressurized air, LHOX, and LOX are available.
Oil: O-148 SOAP is available.
Class C airspace is in effect 1300-0100Z Monday through Friday and 2000-2300Z Sunday, excluding holidays. Outside those hours the airspace is Class G.
Class E airspace begins at 700 feet AGL and above.
All aircraft departing VFR must contact clearance delivery on 335.8 for a Class C airspace climb-out instruction prior to taxiing. Aircraft operating within the RSU practice area are not Class C participants. The RSU practice area is defined in AP/1.
Caution: taxiway J is for VFR daytime use only, with no edge lights installed.
Restricted: only T-1 and smaller aircraft are permitted on taxiways B, C, D, E, and H.
Caution: potential transiting or diverting unmanned aircraft system operations within the local terminal area.
Fuel service available.
Transient alert service operates during airfield hours.
Service lighting: three sets of taxiway end lights are missing, at the intersections of taxiway G and D, taxiway G and E, and taxiway G and F.
Restricted: taxiway G1 is for use by T-6 aircraft only.
Airfield operations does not have the ability to store COMSEC material. The command post has limited available storage. Contact the command post for arrangements.
Firefighting capability is limited to a maximum of 2,300 gallons.
Wide-body aircraft, including the C-17 and C-5, should expect a service time of 30 minutes or longer due to the use of a 1.5-inch hose.
Source: FAA Chart Supplement.
Nearby airfields
Laughlin AFB Airport has five airfields within 22 NM. The closest is Del Rio International (KDRT), 7.86 NM west.
Source: Skystar calculation from official coordinates.
Skystar at KDLF
We arrange catering, fuel and trip support here. Supplier prices reach you unchanged; our coordination fee sits on its own line.
The same order, priced two ways.
$1,200.00 catering order at KDLF.
Unchanged.
What the kitchen invoices us is what your quote reads.
One line, fixed.
It does not move with the size of the order.
At cost.
Passed on at the exact amount the processor took.
Market practice figures are industry averages, not a specific competitor.
Frequently asked questions
Is KDLF open to civilian or transient business aircraft?
Laughlin AFB (KDLF) is a private-use military airfield operated by AETC for pilot training. Access requires prior permission, arranged through base operations, and all aircraft with a wingspan larger than a C-130 are restricted from using the field. Transient aircraft flying overhead approaches are not authorized during student training operations. Business aviation traffic through KDLF is minimal given these restrictions.
What runways are available at Laughlin AFB?
Laughlin AFB has three paved runways: 13C/31C at 8,852 feet, 13L/31R at 8,316 feet, and 13R/31L at 6,571 feet. Runway 13C/31C is grooved concrete for its first 300 feet with grooved asphalt for the remaining 8,252 feet, while 13L/31R has 1,000 feet of grooved concrete followed by grooved asphalt. Runway 13R/31L is restricted to local use only. All three runways carry arresting gear equipment for military operations.
Does KDLF have customs clearance on site?
Laughlin AFB does not have customs processing on site. The nearest customs facility is Del Rio International Airport (KDRT), located approximately 7.86 nautical miles away. Dispatchers planning international arrivals into the KDLF area should route customs clearance through KDRT rather than expecting on-field processing at Laughlin. This applies given the field's restricted, military-only access status.
When is Laughlin AFB's airspace and operating schedule active?
Laughlin AFB (KDLF) operates its Class C airspace Monday through Friday from 1300 to 0100Z, and Sunday from 2000 to 2300Z, excluding holidays, reverting to Class G outside those hours. The field also enforces an AETC quiet hour policy from 0400 to 1200Z daily, during which no takeoffs, low approaches, or touch-and-go landings are permitted. All departing VFR aircraft must contact clearance delivery for a Class C climb-out instruction prior to taxi.