Port Largo : The Florida Keys' forgotten airport Key Largo's Port Largo airport ( KYL ), which closed in 1985, has largely been forgotten by all but longtime local residents, pilots, and aviation buffs. The airport, dredged from the ocean floor, was little more than a breakwater with a runway on top and operated for little more than a decade. Despite its diminutive size, Port Largo enjoyed commercial commuter airline service and became the center of a nearly two decade legal battle. The story of this unusual airport began in the late 1960s with an undeveloped, submerged parcel of land owned by the State of Florida on the Atlantic side of Key Largo. The State sold the parcel to a developer who dredged the area and constructed a breakwater that was paved with a 2,300 foot landing strip. It was agreed that the developer would eventually donate the property to Monroe County for use as a public airport. Dredging began in 1968 and the airport was opened in 1972. Below: This late '50s aerial postcard view of Key Largo around mile marker 99.5 shows the initial phase of the Port Largo development at the top of the photo. The area shown under construction was for private residences. The area that became the airport, just beyond the shore at top left, was still underwater at this point. Thanks to Jerry Wilkinson at keyshistory.org for this photo! This aerial photo from February 1973, courtesy of the USGS, clearly shows the Port Largo development with the single 2,300 foot runway on the right side.  A Florida aeronautical chart from 1976 showing Port Largo airport and nearby Ocean Reef Resort airport. Courtesy University of Florida. In the early 1980s there were four airports in the Florida Keys that received commercial airline service: Key West, Marathon, Ocean Reef, and Port Largo. Bahamas Caribbean Airlines operated nonstop flights between Port Largo and Miami International Airport using 9-passenger Britten-Norman Islander equipment. This excerpt from the December 1, 1981 Official Airline Guide shows two daily flights and a one-way fare of $45. Bahamas Caribbean later changed its name to Aero International and then Air South. BN-2 Islander N902GD of Aero International was one of several aircraft flown on scheduled airline flights to and from Port Largo in the early 1980s. Photo courtesy of Allan Wright at the BN Historians website. Thanks Allan! The Port Largo runway stands out at the center of this infrared satellite photo from 1985 (also courtesy of the USGS).  In the early 1980s, the property was purchased by New Port Largo, Inc, who intended to close the airport and build homes on the site. Upon learning this, Monroe County commenced litigation to block the closure and gain legal control over the airport, and even changed zoning laws in an attempt to block residential development. Monroe County lost the battle in 1985 and the airport was permanently closed. Lawsuits between the two parties continued well into the late 1990s. The strip of land that was once Port Largo airport, below at far right, is now a street called Ocean Cay with high-density oceanfront property. Many residents probably have no idea that a commercial airport once operated where their houses now stand. Here's a bird's eye view of what used to be Port Largo Airport. Photo courtesy of Port Largo Properties. In April 2010 I received a series of interesting emails from Richard Young concerning Port Largo Airport: Back in 1978 I was a crew member of the Beech Aircraft film crew that landed and used KYL for a movie about our single engine Bonanza airplanes. We were based in and flew from Opa-Locka to Key West, with scenes at Port Largo. The films night shots were at Opa Locka, I was there, and scuba shots were off the Largo marina area, did not go on that scene. The film can be found at http://acfs.biz . It's called Bonanza:The Special One. Circa 1979. I have shot a lot of air to air before and knew that my pilot was NOT qualified for formation flying; he was looking all around and not paying attention to the other 3 airplanes. I vividly remember flying over the bay thinking ‘were there sharks in the water I would have to deal with when my pilot bumped into the number 3 aircraft and we both dropped into the water’. So, I did not think a lot about the airport runway length but just getting there very fast. After landing I drove back to Opa Locka in the car the director rented, I was not getting back in the airplane with that pilot. The pilot’s poor flying led to the scenes being edited out of the film because his airplane was going up, down, in and out all over the place, and not solid in formation as expected. This screenshot from a Beechcraft promotional film called "People Machine" shows a scene filmed at Port Largo airport in 1978. This is facing east towards the Atlantic. Courtesy of Richard Young. There was a second and much better movie that has scenes from Opa Locka, Miami Beach and Largo, and had Cliff Robertson on camera and a “Silver Screen” award for outstanding creativity. Cliff had a Beech Baron, basically a Bonanza with two engines that he needed to get some work done on, so we ‘comped’ his on-camera work for some parts for his airplane. The one thing I remember with Cliff, after doing the on camera (movie close) shots at Beech West Van Nuys airport, we loaded in a rental and headed to Ventura CA to do the opening, Cliff said he knew where to go on the beach so he drove. Wow, that was another scary trip because he was very aggressive on the freeways. Another shot from the same film, this time facing towards the Port Largo development. Much of the fill for the airport was dredged from the canal bordering the runway. Courtesy of Richard Young. To download the film, go to http://acfs.biz and look for ‘People Machine’. Warning - it is a big one. You would download and unzip to a folder then run the ‘Impressionplayer.exe’. This was setup as a DVD movie without needing a DVD player playing on a computer. If you have photos or stories about Port Largo Airport, please CONTACT me. I'd love to hear from you!   BACK TO GALLERIES Sunshine Skies Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia by David P. Henderson Zeus Henderson Zeus Press  Keys Port Largo airport Miami International Airport KYL  abandoned little known airfields