🇺🇸 Southern Illinois Airport

The Southern Illinois Airport (KMDH (MDH)) is a public, regional general aviation facility located three nautical miles northwest of Carbondale and east of Murphysboro, Illinois. It was originally known as Murdale Airport and opened in September 1950. The airport is owned and operated by the Southern Illinois Airport Authority.

It is home to Southern Illinois University's (SIU) flight training program, which accounts for the majority of the airport's traffic. The airport also houses SIU's aviation flight, aviation management, and automotive technologies programs in its Transportation Education Center. A robust Medivac helicopter operation is also located on the field.

The airport covers 1,200 acres and has an elevation of 411 feet (125 meters). It features three lighted, hard-surface runways:

• Runway 18L/36R: 6,506 x 100 feet (1,983 x 30 m) asphalt
• Runway 6/24: 4,163 x 100 feet (1,269 x 30 m) asphalt
• Runway 18R/36L: 3,498 x 60 feet (1,066 x 18 m) asphalt

A control tower operates daily from 7 am to 9 pm, and an ASOS weather facility operates 24 hours a day. Pilots new to MDH should be aware of the parallel runways with staggered thresholds and full-length parallel taxiways, which can present a wrong surface landing risk.

For the 12-month period ending February 29, 2024, the airport had 117,697 aircraft operations, with 72% being general aviation. As of August 2024, there were 84 aircraft based at the airport. The airport has a Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) offering fuel, ground handling, hangars, parking, and other services.

*Sources researched: faa.gov, airnav.com, en.wikipedia.org, skyvector.com*