Airfield Directory FAQ

Quick links:

• General
• Using Airfield Directory
• Contributing Content
• Embedding Airfield Data
• API & Bulk S3 Data Download
• ForeFlight Content Packs
• MCP Server
• Data, Licensing & Attribution
• Reporting Incorrect Data
• Support, Legal & Privacy

General

What is Airfield Directory?

Airfield Directory is a free, non-commercial, open database for airfield Pilot Reports (PIREPs), landing fees, and fuel prices, powered by the general aviation community. Our goal is to provide free, community-driven aviation information to pilots worldwide. Think of it as Wikipedia for GA airfields.

Is Airfield Directory free to use?

Yes. Airfield Directory is completely free to use and will always stay ad-free and tracking-free. We believe aviation data should be accessible to everyone in the pilot community.

Using Airfield Directory

What can I do on Airfield Directory?

See our Features Page.

Why do the markers on the map have different colors?

• Green: Average rating 4-5 stars
• Yellow: Average rating 2.3-3.5 stars
• Red: Average rating <= 2 stars
• Blue: No PIREPs and/or only AI-generated summaries

Why do some markers have a white center with a colored outline?

Following ICAO aeronautical chart conventions, solid-filled markers represent airfields with paved runways (asphalt, concrete), while white-filled markers with a colored outline represent airfields with unpaved runways (grass, gravel, dirt). The outline color still indicates the rating, just like it does for paved airfields.

What do the colored borders on the ICAO labels mean?

When weather data is available, the ICAO code labels on the map display a colored left border indicating the current flight category:

• 🟢 Green: VFR (Visual Flight Rules)
• 🔵 Blue: MVFR (Marginal VFR)
• 🔴 Red: IFR (Instrument Flight Rules)
• 🟣 Purple: LIFR (Low IFR)

These standard aviation categories are derived from real-time METAR data, reflecting ceiling and visibility at the airfield.

Contributing Content

How can I contribute PIREPs?

Create an account by signing in with Apple, Google, or Amazon, then visit any airfield page to submit your pilot report. Your contributions help other pilots make better decisions.

What happens to my contributions?

All PIREPs and comments you submit are:

• Published publicly under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, which means that by posting, you grant everyone a permanent, worldwide license under CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Available for others to use, share, and adapt with proper attribution and resharing under the same license.
• Covered by an irrevocable license, so even if you later delete a PIREP, existing copies remain usable under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Can I delete or modify my PIREPs?

Yes. You can delete or change your PIREPs through the website interface at any time. Please note:

• The CC BY-SA 4.0 license is irrevocable.
• Copies already made by others may persist.
• The license remains valid for any copies made before deletion.

What about the "AI-generated, may contain errors" badge?

To create an initial set of reports, we used AI in August 2025 to generate some starter PIREPs. These are clearly marked with an "AI-generated, may contain errors" badge. We encourage the community to replace or supplement them with real pilot reports.

Who is responsible for PIREPs and comments?

The respective author. You are legally responsible for the content you submit, including PIREPs and comments. Please post only lawful, factual information and do not include personal data of third parties. We moderate after the fact and may remove content, but we do not perform general pre-moderation.

How can I report problematic content?

Email info@airfield.directory with the content link, a brief explanation, and your contact details. We will review it promptly under a notice-and-takedown process.

Embedding Airfield Data

Can I embed airfield information on my website?

Yes! Airfield Directory offers embeddable widgets that display live airfield data including ratings, weather, landing fees, and fuel prices on your website. This is ideal for airport and airfield operators who want to showcase their ratings, community feedback, and operational information directly on their own site — no programming required. Visit the Embed Widget Configurator to generate an embed code for any airfield. The widget is available in vertical or horizontal layout, with compact or extended density, and supports 6 languages.

API & Bulk S3 Data Download

Is there an API?

Yes. You can access airfield data in JSON format by adding .json to any airfield URL.

Example: https://airfield.directory/airfield/EDAZ.json. Please review the licensing terms in the JSON response.

If you need a bulk download, full JSON exports of all PIREPs are available in the S3 bucket airfield-directory-pirep-export:

aws s3api list-objects-v2 --bucket airfield-directory-pirep-export --no-sign-request
curl -LO "https://airfield-directory-pirep-export.s3.amazonaws.com/airfield-directory-pireps-export-latest.json.gz"

# Filter out AI-generated PIREPs with jq:
gunzip -c airfield-directory-pireps-export-latest.json.gz | jq '.pireps
  | with_entries(
      .value |= (
        to_entries
        | map(select(.value.ai_generated != true))
        | from_entries
      )
    )
  | with_entries(select(.value != {}))'

# Count the current non-AI PIREPs:
gunzip -c airfield-directory-pireps-export-latest.json.gz | jq '
  .pireps
  | [ .[]
      | .[]
      | select(.ai_generated != true)
    ]
  | length'

# Extract PIREPs for a single airfield (for example EDAZ):
gunzip -c airfield-directory-pireps-export-latest.json.gz | jq '.pireps.EDAZ'

What data is included in the JSON API?

• Airfield information from FAA (US), OpenAIP, and OpenFlightMaps
• Aerops data, when available, including fuel prices, landing fees, and parking fees
• Community PIREPs
• License information for each data section

What data is included in the S3 export?

• Community PIREPs including license information

Is personal data exposed in the API?

No. We take privacy seriously:

• Email addresses are never exposed.
• Only SHA256 hashes and display names are included.
• Gravatar usage also relies on SHA256 hashes.

ForeFlight Content Packs

How do I import PIREPs into ForeFlight?

You can import our ForeFlight content packs like this:

• Download a ZIP from S3, for example:
  • Human-written only (English): https://airfield-directory-pirep-export.s3.amazonaws.com/contentpack/airfield-directory-pireps-foreflight-en.zip
  • With AI (English): https://airfield-directory-pirep-export.s3.amazonaws.com/contentpack/airfield-directory-pireps-foreflight-with-ai-en.zip
• Replace en with de, es, fr, it, or nl as needed.
• Each ZIP contains a ForeFlight content pack with KMZ navdata and Airfield Directory markers.
• AirDrop the ZIP to your iPad and open it with ForeFlight.

We publish two pack variants per locale:

• airfield-directory-pireps-foreflight-<locale>.zip for human-written PIREPs only
• airfield-directory-pireps-foreflight-with-ai-<locale>.zip including AI/root PIREPs

MCP Server

Is there an MCP server?

Yes. Airfield Directory exposes a read-only remote MCP endpoint at https://airfield.directory/mcp.

How do I use it with Anthropic's claude.ai?

Claude on the web supports remote MCP servers via Connectors (beta). Go to Settings > Connectors, click Add custom connector, enter a name (e.g. "Airfield Directory") and the URL https://airfield.directory/mcp, then click Add. No authentication is required. After adding, click Configure next to the connector and set all tools to Always allow so Claude can use them without prompting each time.

How do I use it with Claude Desktop?

A known-working claude_desktop_config.json setup uses the mcp-remote wrapper to bridge Claude Desktop to the remote HTTP MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "airfield-directory": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://airfield.directory/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

If you edit the JSON file directly, restart Claude Desktop afterward.

How do I use it with Claude Code?

Project-scoped Claude Code configuration can live in .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "airfield-directory": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://airfield.directory/mcp"
    }
  }
}

If you prefer user scope, use the same entry in ~/.claude.json.

How do I use it with ChatGPT?

ChatGPT supports remote MCP servers via developer mode (beta). This is available for Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise, and Education accounts on the web.

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Advanced settings and enable Developer mode.
2. Click Create app and enter the MCP server URL: https://airfield.directory/mcp.
3. Set authentication to None (Airfield Directory is a public, read-only server).
4. In a new chat, click + in the composer, select More, then choose Developer mode and enable the Airfield Directory app.

Alternatively, you can use the Airfield Directory GPT. We expect better results when using MCP, but this GPT also has direct API connections to Airfield Directory to query data directly.

How do I use it with OpenAI Codex?

The simplest option is:

codex mcp add airfield-directory --url https://airfield.directory/mcp

You can also configure it manually in ~/.codex/config.toml or .codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.airfield-directory]
url = "https://airfield.directory/mcp"

How do I use it with Google Gemini?

The Gemini web app does not support custom MCP servers yet. You can connect via the Gemini CLI by adding this to ~/.gemini/settings.json (user scope) or .gemini/settings.json (project scope):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "airfield-directory": {
      "httpUrl": "https://airfield.directory/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Data, Licensing & Attribution

Where does the data come from?

Our data comes from five main sources:

1. US airfield data from the FAA, a work of the US Government and in the US Public Domain (no attribution required)
2. International airfield data from OpenAIP, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
3. Supplemental airfield data from OpenFlightMaps, licensed under the OFMA General Users' License
4. Pricing data from Aerops, which is proprietary and not for redistribution
5. PIREPs from our community of pilots, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Can I use the data for my own projects?

That depends on which data you want to use:

FAA Airfield Data (US Public Domain)

• ✅ Free for any use, including commercial use
• ✅ No attribution required — FAA aeronautical data is a work of the US Government and is in the public domain
• Source: https://adds-faa.opendata.arcgis.com/search?collection=dataset&tags=Airports

OpenAIP Airfield Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)

• ✅ Free for non-commercial use
• ❌ Not for commercial use
• Required attribution: "Data used comes from OpenAIP and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Visit https://www.openaip.net and contribute to better aviation data, free for everyone to use and share." Check their site before you reuse the data.

OpenFlightMaps Airfield Data (OFMA General Users' License)

• ✅ Free for commercial and non-commercial use with attribution
• Required: Attribute OpenFlightMaps as the source and report discovered data errors back to OFMA
• More info at https://openflightmaps.org/about/

Aerops Pricing Data

• ❌ Not for redistribution (commercial or non-commercial)
• This data is copyright © Aerops and shown here with permission
• Always contact the FBO directly for current pricing

Community PIREPs (CC BY-SA 4.0)

• ✅ Free for any use, including commercial use
• ✅ Can be modified and redistributed
• Required attribution: "Community contributions from Airfield Directory (https://airfield.directory), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. You must give appropriate credit to the Author and Airfield Directory, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made."
• Important: If you modify or build upon PIREPs, you must distribute your work under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license

How should I attribute Airfield Directory data?

If you use data from our JSON API, S3 bucket, or website, please use one of the following forms:

Full attribution (recommended)

Data from Airfield Directory (https://airfield.directory) and community contributors. Includes: FAA data (US Public Domain, https://adds-faa.opendata.arcgis.com/search?collection=dataset&tags=Airports), OpenAIP data (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://www.openaip.net), OpenFlightMaps data (OFMA General Users' License), and community PIREPs (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Short attribution (if space is limited)

Data: Airfield Directory, FAA (US Public Domain), OpenAIP (CC BY-NC 4.0), OpenFlightMaps (OFMA), Aerops, Community (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Reporting Incorrect Data

• For US airfield data errors, report them to the FAA via the ADDS Open Data portal. Once the upstream dataset is corrected, updates flow into Airfield Directory on the next nightly import.
• For aeronautical airfield data errors outside the US, search for the airfield on https://www.openaip.net — or click the "Source: OpenAIP" link on any airfield page — and use the "Request Change" button to submit a correction directly. You will need a free OpenAIP account to request changes. Once OpenAIP approves the correction, it will automatically be reflected on Airfield Directory. For airfields sourced from OpenFlightMaps, report errors via https://openflightmaps.org.
• For Aerops pricing errors, contact the Airport/FBO directly. FYI, displayed prices are cached daily and might be outdated.
• For PIREP issues, smimply submit a new PIREP yourself with the correct information.
• For anything else (e.g. contact information), send us an email to info@airfield.directory.

Support, Legal & Privacy

How can I report issues or suggest features?

Please use the GitHub issue tracker to report issues or suggest features. We welcome community feedback.

How is my personal data handled?

Please see our Privacy Policy for detailed information about data handling.

What are the Terms of Service?

You can find our complete Terms of Service on the Terms of Service page.