Orlando Executive Airport (ORL): General Aviation Field Three Miles from Downtown Serves Business Jets, Training and Charter Flights
Why It MattersThe reliever airport's rising traffic and based-jet growth since 2017 underscore how secondary GA fields are absorbing business aviation demand near major metro hubs.
Orlando Executive Airport (ORL/KORL), a public general aviation airport three miles east of downtown Orlando, is operated by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) as a reliever to Orlando International Airport (MCO). ORL has not hosted scheduled airline service since 1966, when Delta, Eastern and National airlines relocated to the jetport built on the former McCoy Air Force Base that became MCO.
The airport spans approximately 970 acres and has two runways, the main 7/25 at 6,004 by 150 feet and crosswind 13/31 at 4,625 by 100 feet. Atlantic Aviation and Sheltair operate as fixed-base operators providing fuel, parking, hangaring and passenger handling, and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility on site handles international private arrivals on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. with advance permission and a user fee.
GOAA's 2026 fact sheet counts 292 based aircraft at ORL — 164 single-engine, 41 multi-engine, 59 jets and 27 helicopters — with about 65 percent of operations itinerant and 35 percent local, largely flight training. ORL handled approximately 181,493 operations in 2025, according to GOAA's 2026 fact sheet, though a separate GOAA web page cites more than 190,000; traffic has stayed above 180,000 since 2023, up sharply from around 100,000 operations in 2017.
Opened in 1928 as Orlando Municipal Airport, Central Florida's first commercial airfield, the field was renamed Herndon Airport in 1961 and became Orlando Executive Airport in 1982. GOAA infrastructure work includes a Runway 7/25 resurfacing completed in 2026, a new airport beacon installed in 2026, a taxiway project planned for 2027 and a Runway 13/31 rehabilitation scheduled for 2029. ORL sits about 13 miles from Lake Nona Town Center, compared with roughly 5.5 miles to MCO, making ORL more relevant to Lake Nona residents for training, small aircraft basing and business flights ending in downtown Orlando, while MCO remains the primary option for airline travel and most charter flights.
