Columbia Metropolitan Airport

Columbia Metropolitan Airport (KCAE) is a medium airport in Columbia, SC. Pilots and dispatchers reference it by ICAO code KCAE or IATA code CAE. It sits in North America.

Columbia Metropolitan Airport is a regional commercial airport that doubles as a busy private-aviation base. Operators benefit from full instrument approaches and an FBO infrastructure scaled for regular jet traffic, often without the congestion of the nearest major hub.

The longest runway measures 8,601 ft (2,622 m), a heavy-class field. Representative aircraft that operate comfortably here include the Gulfstream G550, Falcon 7X, and Bombardier Global 5500. In practice this most heavy and super-midsize jets operate here without restriction.

Columbia Metropolitan Airport sits near sea level at 236 ft.

Local operations run on America/New_York. Scheduled airline service is light enough that it rarely interferes with charter movements, though planners should still expect to coordinate with the handling agent for international turnarounds.

SkyAccess currently tracks 54 departing and 99 arriving private-jet legs at KCAE across the next six months of operator inventory. 2 aircraft from 10 operators are based here or fly through regularly, so most empty-leg supply originates from a local fleet rather than out-of-town repositioning.

Regional fields like KCAE are a meaningful share of US private aviation — closer to the trip's actual origin or destination than the nearest major hub, with shorter ramp-to-cabin times that are the main reason owners and brokers prefer them.

Columbia Metropolitan Airport is the main commercial airport for Columbia and the Midlands region of South Carolina, United States. The airport is located in unincorporated Lexington County, southwest of Columbia. Although it has a West Columbia mailing address, the airport is not within that city's boundaries. The city of Cayce and the towns of Springdale, Pine Ridge, and South Congaree surround the airport, separating the airport from West Columbia. The airport is a regional cargo hub for UPS Airlines.