FAA plan would give a Cook Inlet oil-field airstrip its first instrument approaches

An airstrip serving Hilcorp Alaska's Trading Bay oil field, on the west side of Cook Inlet, could start taking aircraft in weather that now turns them back. A proposal the FAA filed Monday would place controlled airspace over a strip that has no instrument approach procedure on file today.

The agency's data lists the private field as 5AK0. The proposed Class E airspace, extending upward from 700 feet above the surface, would contain two private-use RNAV (GPS) approaches, to Runways 17 and 35.

The notice contradicts itself twice. It calls the field "Trader Bay Production Airport," and it puts the airspace dividing line about 250 feet west of the airport reference point while the codified amendment sets it over two miles further west.

The proposal does not say who operates the airport, though FAA airport records list Hilcorp Alaska, LLC as owner and manager. An environmental analysis has not been completed. Every fact here is the FAA's own.

The notice publishes Tuesday. Comments are due Oct. 2 under docket FAA-2026-5150 at regulations.gov.