About Johnson County

Johnson County, Kan., is a diverse and expanding area in the Kansas City region that is home to more than 600,000 residents, making it the largest county in the state. While largely suburban, the area boasts terrific highway access, several large employers and company headquarters, and three general aviation airports.

About the Airports

The two airports that are a focus of this study are New Century AirCenter and Johnson County Executive, both of which are in areas that have seen large amounts of growth in recent years.

  • New Century (IXD) features two runways: Runway 18/36 is 7,339 feet long, making it the second longest runway in the region, and Runway 4/22 is a 5,132-foot-long crosswind runway. It also has an FAA contract air traffic control tower, Category I instrument landing system, fire station, numerous aviation business, and remains home to U.S. Army Reserve’s Aviation Support Facility Olathe, which houses the CH-47 Chinook helicopter. The most recent comprehensive Compatibility Plan for IXD was adopted in 1996.
  • Executive Airport (OJC) is the home to many corporate, business, and general aviation users, and sees more than 40,000 operations a year. It’s single runway, 18/36, is 4,097 feet long and features two parallel taxiways. OJC is also home to a pair of fixed base operators, and has flight instruction and charter services. Its most recent Comprehensive Compatibility Plan was adopted in 2004.

About the Studies

The Comprehensive Land Use Compatibility Plan updates for the airports will act as a general guide to determine the most compatible land uses and mitigate potential adverse impacts around IXD and OJC. The Comprehensive Land Use Compatibility Plans will play important roles in shaping the future of the community. They will serve as the officially adopted guides for County and airport policy decisions relating to development around the airports, including challenges, vision, goals, actions, policies, and strategies. These plans will be formally adopted as amendments to the Johnson County Rural Comprehensive Plan.

There will be eight (8) public meetings held during the study period—four for each airport. The date, time, and location of those meetings will be advertised, including on this website in the Public Involvement and Comments page. Interested citizens can also leave comments on that page in the form provided.