# Wales Airport (WAA / PAIW)

**Wales Airport** (IATA: WAA, ICAO: PAIW) is a small airport in Wales, Alaska, United States. It opened in Oct 1954. It has one runway, 3,990 ft (1,216 m) long, gravel. It is operated by Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities. In 2025 it handled 2 thousand passengers.

Web page: https://dromopedia.com/airports/paiw

## At a glance

- IATA / ICAO: WAA / PAIW
- FAA: IWK
- Type: Small airport
- Operator: Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
- Serves: Wales, Alaska, United States
- Opened: Oct 1954
- Elevation: 26 ft / 8 m
- Coordinates: 65.6226, -168.0950
- Runways: 1
- Longest runway: 3,990 ft / 1,216 m
- Instrument procedures: 3 approaches
- Passengers: 2,369 (2025)
- Time zone: UTC-9/-8 · America/Nome
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales_Airport_(Alaska) (7 languages)
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4479769
- Weather station: PAIW
- Ident: PAIW

## Timeline

- Oct 1954: Wales Airport opens.

## Runways

| Ident | Length | Width | Surface | True headings | Lighted |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 18/36 | 3,990 ft / 1,216 m | 75 ft / 23 m | Gravel | 188° / 008° | yes |

## Passengers per year

| Year | Passengers | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2015 | 4,545 | BTS T-100 Segment |
| 2016 | 4,347 | BTS T-100 Segment |
| 2017 | 4,451 | BTS T-100 Segment |
| 2018 | 4,019 | BTS T-100 Segment |
| 2019 | 3,551 | BTS T-100 Segment |
| 2020 | 1,788 | BTS T-100 Segment |
| 2021 | 3,173 | BTS T-100 Segment |
| 2022 | 3,990 | BTS T-100 Segment |
| 2023 | 4,539 | BTS T-100 Segment |
| 2024 | 2,776 | BTS T-100 Segment |
| 2025 | 2,369 | BTS T-100 Segment |

## Routes

3 destinations in 1 country. From the airport's Wikipedia article.

### Year-round (3)

- [KTS](https://dromopedia.com/airports/pfkt.md) Brevig Mission Airport · United States · 51 mi / 82 km · Ryan Air Services
- [SHH](https://dromopedia.com/airports/pash.md) Shishmaref Airport · United States · 71 mi / 115 km · Bering Air, Ryan Air Services
- [OME](https://dromopedia.com/airports/paom.md) Nome Airport · United States · 109 mi / 175 km · Bering Air

## Airlines

The figure is how many destinations each airline flies from WAA, as the routes above have them. Hubs from Wikidata.

### Passenger (2)

- 8E [Bering Air](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/bering-air) · 2
- RYA [Ryan Air Services](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/ryan-air-services) · 2

## Rankings

Ranked among 48,075 open airports; = marks a shared place.

| Measure | Value | World | Region | Country |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Passengers | 2K (2025) | #3,111 of 3,974 | #828 in North America | #601 in US |
| Longest runway | 3,990 ft / 1,216 m | =10,004 of 29,858 | =4,167 in North America | #3,497 in US |
| Elevation | 26 ft / 8 m | =40,786 of 43,403 | =18,428 in North America | =15,115 in US |
| Age | Opened 1954 | =4,023 of 15,079 | =2,782 in North America | =2,717 in US |
| Runways | 1 | =4,364 of 29,978 | =2,583 in North America | =2,326 in US |

## Nearby airports

- [TNC](https://dromopedia.com/airports/patc.md) Tin City Long Range Radar Station Airport · 6.4 mi / 10 km
- [AK98](https://dromopedia.com/airports/ak98.md) Buck Creek Airport · 17 mi / 28 km
- [LSR](https://dromopedia.com/airports/lsr.md) Lost River 1 Airport · 31 mi / 49 km
- [KPC](https://dromopedia.com/airports/papc.md) Port Clarence Coast Guard Station · 44 mi / 70 km
- [KTS](https://dromopedia.com/airports/pfkt.md) Brevig Mission Airport · 51 mi / 82 km
- [TLA](https://dromopedia.com/airports/pate.md) Teller Airport · 57 mi / 92 km

## Sources

- [BTS T-100 Segment](https://www.transtats.bts.gov/Tables.asp?QO_VQ=EEE&QO_anzr=Nv4%20Pn44vr45): US traffic: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (Public Domain (US Government))
- [FAA NASR](https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/aero_data/NASR_Subscription/): US airport data: FAA National Airspace System Resources (Public Domain (US Government))
- [NOAA Aviation Weather Center](https://aviationweather.gov/data/api/): Weather data: NOAA Aviation Weather Center (Public Domain (US Government))
- [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/data/): Airport data from OurAirports (Public Domain)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org): Structured data from Wikidata (CC0 1.0)
- [Wikipedia: “Wales Airport (Alaska)”](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wales_Airport_(Alaska)&oldid=1363086893), revision of 7 Jul 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [timezone-boundary-builder](https://github.com/evansiroky/timezone-boundary-builder): Time zone boundaries © OpenStreetMap contributors, timezone-boundary-builder (ODbL 1.0)
- Every figure with its source: https://dromopedia.com/airports/paiw/data