Akron–Canton Airport is a commercial airport in the city of Green, in southern Summit County, Ohio (a small piece of each runway is in Stark County). The airport is located about southeast of Akron and northwest of Canton. It is jointly operated by Summit County and Stark County. The airport is a "reliever" airport for Northeast Ohio and markets itself as "A better way to go", emphasizing the ease of travel in comparison to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Just under 90% of its traffic is general aviation. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2019–2023, in which it is categorized as a small-hub primary commercial service facility.
Akron–Canton Airport covers and has two runways: 01/19 is 7,601 feet long and 05/23 is 8,204 feet long. FAA data effective January 23, 2025.
The airport has a maintenance base for PSA Airlines, a regional carrier owned by the American Airlines Group that flies under the American Eagle brand.
History Public funds for the construction of the airport were allocated during World War II for defense purposes, but construction stalled over a controversy relating to whether public funding of airport construction would be appropriate. As a result, private funding was essential to the initial construction of the airport, particularly in purchasing the land.
The Massillon Chamber of Commerce requested that the name Akron–Canton Memorial Airport be changed to Akron–Canton–Massillon Airport in June 1945. Then, in September 1946, Massillon was again removed from the name, for it to become simply the Akron–Canton Airport.
The airport was dedicated on October 13, 1946, as the Akron–Canton Airport. Passenger air service began in 1948 when American, United, Capital, and Eastern airlines moved from the Akron Fulton International Airport.
A permanent terminal was built in 1955 and expanded in 1962. In the summer of 2020, a new expansion was made to the terminal, relocating gates from the original terminal to a new bi-level concourse. The original gates and terminal area from the 1960s are slated for demolition to make room for new aircraft parking areas.
In 2021, the airport received $7.7 million from the Federal Aviation Administration to acquire snow removal equipment, rehabilitate taxiways and aviation aprons, rehabilitate existing lighting systems, and perform sealing along sections of taxiway surface area.
Passenger growth and decline During the mid-2000s, the airport was one of the fastest-growing airports in the Midwest, attracting passengers from the Akron/Canton area and Cleveland metropolitan area. The airport's passenger count doubled between 2000 and 2006, with several new routes added by AirTran Airways and Frontier Airlines. The airport experienced its busiest year in 2012, with 1.83 million passengers flying through.
Since 2012, passenger traffic has decreased. AirTran's presence at the airport shrank following the airline's acquisition by Southwest Airlines in 2011. Several other low-cost carriers, including JetBlue, Frontier Airlines, and Spirit Airlines, established new routes from nearby Cleveland Hopkins, lowering average airfares at that airport and reducing demand for Cleveland-based travelers to fly out of further-away Akron. In 2017, Southwest dropped Akron and consolidated operations at Cleveland Hopkins, as Allegiant Air did the same year.
By 2017, the airport's passenger traffic sank to its lowest level since 2004. As of May 2018, it had the second fastest declining passenger count of any US airport.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the airport suffered further loss of service, as Delta Air Lines ceased its long-running service from the airport to Atlanta in 2020, and Spirit Airlines ended all flights to Orlando and seasonal service to Myrtle Beach and Fort Myers in 2022. United Express dropped service to Washington–Dulles in 2022, citing ongoing staff shortages. This service had replaced their erstwhile service to Newark in 2021, although the airline hopes to restart scheduled flights to Dulles in 2023.
Expansion
In 2006, the airport completed a terminal expansion and renovation, including the addition of a new wing off the main concourse. It increased the number of gates from 9 to 11 and provides new baggage areas, a food court, and better aesthetics. The new wing opened to passengers in May 2006 and was home to AirTran Airways and its successor, Southwest.
In 2011, the expanded TSA screening area was completed. It has four lanes for screening, with the ability to open two more. Along with the expanded screening area, Advanced Imaging Devices were installed and a TSA Precheck lane was added.
The airport initiated CAK 2018, its 10-year, $110 million Capital Improvement Plan, in March 2008. The plan was the most ambitious capital improvement plan in Akron–Canton Airport's history and called for 10 projects in the next 10 years. One of those projects, a runway expansion, has already been completed: runway 05/23 was extended from to . The runways now allow aircraft to fly non-stop to anywhere in the U.S. and throughout Mexico and Canada.
Other projects include expanding aircraft parking and general aviation area, replacing aircraft rescue and firefighting maintenance facility, a new customs and border patrol facility, expanding auto parking lots, a widened entrance road, expanded ticket wing and TSA screening area, and an expanded upper-level concourse. The construction of Port Green Industrial Park, on , also began to be developed into 10-12 business sites.
In June 2021, Breeze Airways launched nonstop flights from Akron to Charleston (SC), New Orleans, and Tampa. They have since continued their expansion at the airport, adding scheduled service to Las Vegas, Nashville, and West Palm Beach. Following the withdrawal of Spirit Airlines at CAK, Breeze Airways also announced the commencement of service to Orlando beginning in March 2023.
In September 2021, Allegiant Air announced that they would be discontinuing service to Cleveland and returning to Akron–Canton, flying to four destinations with operations beginning March 2, 2022. Further expansions to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando-Sanford were announced in May 2022.
In February 2025, Breeze Airways announced that Akron–Canton Airport will be opening a new crew base, set to start in summer 2025.
Airlines and destinations Passenger
Statistics
Top destinations + Busiest domestic routes from CAK (June 2025 – May 2026) Rank City Passengers Carriers 1 Charlotte, North Carolina 76,070 American 2 Chicago–O'Hare, Illinois 75,160 United, American 3 Orlando-International, Florida 41,910 Breeze 4 Sarasota, Florida 34,640 Allegiant, Breeze 5 Charleston, South Carolina 32,390 Breeze 6 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 25,670 Allegiant, Breeze 7 Fort Myers, Florida 24,050 Breeze 8 Jacksonville, Florida 23,670 Allegiant, Breeze 9 Punta Gorda, Florida 23,150 Allegiant 10 Savannah, Georgia 20,970 Allegiant
Airline market shares + Largest airlines at CAK (June 2025 – May 2026)RankAirlinePassengersShare1 Breeze Airways418,00040.03%2 Allegiant Air302,00028.97%3 PSA Airlines203,00019.42%4 SkyWest Airlines116,00011.16%5 Envoy Air3,8400.37% – Other4800.05%
Annual traffic + Annual passenger traffic at CAK 2005–present Year Passengers Year Passengers Year Passengers 2005 1,301,000 2015 1,545,997 2025 938,814 2006 1,438,304 2016 1,398,615 2007 1,391,836 2017 1,265,844 2008 1,469,196 2018 920,002 2009 1,444,269 2019 813,976 2010 1,594,875 2020 291,657 2011 1,664,387 2021 414,783 2012 1,838,082 2022 534,257 2013 1,724,676 2023 686,661 2014 1,566,638 2024 759,545
Facilities and aircraft The airport has two runways, both paved with asphalt. Runway 5/23 measures 8204 x 150 ft (2501 x 46 m), and runway 1/19 measures 7601 x 150 ft (2317 x 46 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 58,035 aircraft operations, an average of 159 per day. This was 52% general aviation, 34% air taxi, 12% commercial, and 3% military. For the same time period, 129 aircraft were based at the airport: 59 single-engine and 25 multi-engine airplanes, 30 jets, 12 military aircraft, and 3 helicopters.
Ground transportation Akron–Canton Airport has a number of taxicab and shuttle services.
It is also served by one route from each of the region's two public transit providers, Akron Metro Regional Transit route 110, and Canton-based Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) route 81.
The SARTA route provides service every hour for most of the day Monday through Saturday and serves both Canton and Akron via Interstate 77, including transit centers in both downtown Canton and downtown Akron.
The Akron Metro route is a five-times-per-day Monday through Friday local route through Southern Summit County, but does serve the downtown Akron Transit Center.
Accidents and incidents
On November 4, 1949, a Harrington's Inc. DC-3, a cargo flight, crashed at CAK short of runway 36 in light snow and limited visibility, hitting trees and landing inverted east of the runway, killing all three occupants. This is the worst crash on airport property in its history. On November 27, 1973, Eastern Airlines Flight 300 was arriving from Pittsburgh International Airport when it ran off the end of the runway. The aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 with five crew members and 21 passengers, and originated at Miami International Airport with a routing MIA-PIT-CAK. The weather conditions were low ceilings, light rain showers and fog. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that landing at excessive speed too far down the wet runway caused the aircraft to hydroplane and not be able to stop. It went over an embankment and was severely damaged and written off. There were no fatalities, but all 26 on board had various injuries. On August 2, 1979, a Cessna Citation 501 piloted by New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson stalled and crashed short of runway 19, killing Munson. The two other people in the plane with him were able to escape the plane just as it caught fire.
On December 26, 2002, a Cessna 172S was substantially damaged while landing at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. The pilot reported he was landing with a 15 knot crosswind component. The airplane touched down hard and began to bounce. The airplane bounced five or six times before the pilot performed a go-around. During the second landing attempt, the pilot experienced difficulty manipulating the airplane's controls. The airplane landed hard, veered off the left side of the runway, and struck a snow bank. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing. On July 12, 2003, a Piper PA-23 was destroyed shortly after takeoff from Akron-Canton Regional Airport. The aircraft was being flown to Medina Municipal Airport after an annual inspection. Almost immediately after rotation, the aircraft veered left due to a loss of left engine power. The pilot was unable to maintain directional control, and the aircraft contacted the ground with the left wing first, followed by the nose, and came to rest at the approach end of Runway 32. After the investigation, a representative of the salvage company who the aircraft was sold to said the left engine's main bearing was found partially seated on the journal. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's failure to maintain minimum control single engine airspeed (Vmc) during a loss of power on one engine, which resulted in a loss of control in flight an in-flight collision with terrain.