Airports into Kentucky

Kentucky farm in light of setting sun/Photo by Rhonda Lane

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The planners for the FEI World Equestrian Games have set up a new website. On it is a page about air travel into Kentucky.

With no offense intended, I think it’s a little sparse. So, we’re going to fill in the gaps here.

A travel series is in the works

BTW, this is the first installment of a series I plan to run on how to get into Kentucky.

This economic downturn won’t last forever. Because there’s plenty to see and do in Kentucky for the horse lover who isn’t in a position to ride.

The state is full of tourist-friendly, big name equestrian events and activities all year round.

So – you really have a choice of four airports.

• Lexington, the closest airport to the WEG venue, the Kentucky Horse Park
• Louisville, about an hour and a half west
• Cincinnati, whose airport is really in northern Kentucky, about the same distance as from Louisville but to the north.
• Nashville, an access point to southwestern Kentucky farms and events and a staging area for a combined horses/Music City tour

Lexington’s Bluegrass Field (LEX)
Bluegrass Airport link

Pros:

You land in the heart of Kentucky horse country. You fly in over farms. The horses below you look like ants. In town, many Lexington streets bear the names of famous racehorses.

As you land, you’re liable to fly over the white barns with red trim of the legendary Calumet Farm. When you drive out of the airport onto Man O’War Boulevard (that name should tell you right there, that you have landed smack dab into Horse Country) you could drive straight across New Circle Road up into the driveway of Keeneland’s race track.

On the day that you leave, you could swing by Keeneland to  shop in the gift shop or take in an early morning workout or even watch a horse auction in progress. And then you can get to the airport in plenty of time to make your flight.

Gas stations are easy to find on the way to the Lexington airport, making last-minute fill-ups easy before dropping off the rental car.

Cons:

It’s a small airport. As of this writing in early 2009, not a lot of flights go there. There were few enough flights before the oil prices clobbered air travel.

When I went through there in May 2008, a lot of construction had been going on, probably in preparation for the games.

Lousiville  (SDF)

Louisville International Airport link

Pros

In one word, Southwest. Southwest Airlines offers dependable bargain fares. As of this writing, passengers pay no baggage fees, either.

Southwest also offers a program that you install onto your computer called “Ding!” It alerts you to timed sales on certain fares. The discounts can be significant. Every few weeks, I see trips to Louisville.

You land very close to both the Kentucky State Fairgrounds –which is where champion American Saddlebreds are crowned — and Churchill Downs, the site of the Kentucky Derby and the excellent Kentucky Derby Museum.

Cons:

You are an hour to an hour and a half drive from Lexington and the Kentucky Horse Park.

If you’re traveling in the winter, know that ice storms tend to be more common than snow and that roads are not as well-tended as they are in the more northern states. And that local drivers do not handle icy roads well.

If you have a rental car that needs to have its gas tank topped off, be prepared to hunt to find gas. The airport exit off the freeway takes you straight into the airport. You pass no gas stations.

So, when I’m returning a rental car in Louisville, I get off at the exit before the airport, the Fairgrounds exit.

A navigation unit in the car that includes points-of-interest make the search for last-minute gas easier.

Greater Cincinnati Airport (CVG)

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport link

I don’t exercise this option as much as I should. The airport is in northern Kentucky about 10 or 15 miles south of Cincinnati. I haven’t landed in northern Kentucky for a good decade. Probably because I tend to travel more into central and south central Kentucky these days.

Pros:

Cincinnati is a Delta hub. You’re more liable to get a direct flight (no connecting flights) to Cincinnati from your home airport. If you prefer avoiding connections, this is the entry point for you.

If you like this option, I’d suggest getting on Delta’s email specials list.

An interesting note, this airport offers horse trails.

Gasoline, if I recall, is plentiful off freeway exits, for last-minute rental car top-offs.

Cons:

Another drive of an hour or so to Lexington. It’s a straight shot down, once you get off I-275. The Kentucky Horse Park is on the outskirts of Lexington, close to Georgetown.

Nashville (BNA)

Nashville International Airport

An option I haven’t tried is flying into Nashville and then driving back up into Kentucky. Horse people I know who live in southwestern Kentucky fly in and out of Nashville, instead of Lexington or Louisville, which is about an hour’s drive south from them in Bowling Green.

Driving back up to Lexington from Nashville, however, would be a long drive. Probably not worth the effort. But – if you want to include time in Music City or in middle Tennessee where many horse farms also are — the fly/drive trip might be an option.

After all, Nashville is a Southwest hub and a tourist hotspot.  I’ve seen ticket prices cheaper to Nashville than to anywhere else that I’ve listed.

But then again, you’re going to spend the money on gasoline for a rental car if Nashville is your staging area, so you have to balance what’s more important for you.

Probably the biggest deciding factor would be, do you want to include Nashville into your itinerary?

What do I usually do?

I prefer to fly into Lexington, but I don’t do it unless I get a great deal or am pushed for time, like I’m attending a weekend event.

More often, I take Southwest into Louisville.

I get better deals on both flights and cars in Louisville. And it’s easier to amass frequent flier points on Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program.

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Tags: Bluegrass Airport, Greater Cincinnati Airport, Kentucky tourism, Kentucky travel series, Lexington tourism, Louisville International Airport