Castle Airport is a public airport eight miles northwest of Merced, in Merced County, California. The airport is operated by the Merced County Department of Commerce, Aviation, and Economic Development. It is owned jointly by the city of Merced, the city of Atwater, and Merced County. The airport was formerly designated as Castle Air Force Base (1941–1995), a United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base which was closed after the end of the Cold War in 1995.The Federal Aviation Administration's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a general aviation airport, serving a regional role. The United States Department of Commerce designates the airport and its hangers, warehouses, industrial buildings, and distribution facilities as a Foreign-Trade Zone. The United States Forest Service uses Castle Airport as reloading base for aerial firefighting, it's large runway, aprons, and taxiways being able to accommodate any aircraft in the Forest Service inventory.Castle Airport serves as the headquarters for the Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, which specializes in training foreign pilots, primarily from the People's Republic of China. Activity related to this school makes up the majority of the air traffic at Castle. In early 2007, the control tower was reopened to handle increased training traffic.
