Falls International Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located in
International Falls, a city in
Koochiching County
Koochiching County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,062. Its county seat is International Falls. A portion of the Bois Forte Indian Reservation is in the county. A small part of Voyage ...
, Minnesota, United States.
It is mostly used for
general aviation but is also served by one commercial airline with scheduled passenger service subsidized by the
Essential Air Service program.
As per
Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 16,590 passenger boardings (enplanements) in
calendar year
Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days. A year can also be measured by starting on any o ...
2008, 15,861 enplanements in 2009, and 14,051 in 2010. It is included in the
National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...
for 2017–2021, which
categorized
Categorization is the ability and activity of recognizing shared features or similarities between the elements of the experience of the world (such as objects, events, or ideas), organizing and classifying experience by associating them to a ...
it as a ''primary commercial service'' airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).
[
]
Facilities and aircraft
Falls International Airport covers an area of 681 acres (276
ha) at an elevation of 1,185 feet (361 m) above
mean sea level. It has two
asphalt paved
runways: 13/31 is 7,400 by 150 feet (2,256 x 46 m) and 4/22 is 2,999 by 75 feet (914 x 23 m).
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2015, the airport had 39,900 aircraft operations, an average of 109 per day: 88%
general aviation, 6%
scheduled commercial, 6%
air taxi and <1%
military. In March 2017, there were 20 aircraft based at this airport: all 20 single-engine.
Airline and destination
Passenger
Cargo
History
In 2020 the airport received a $1,070,873
CARES Act award.
See also
There are two small airports on the Canadian side:
*
Fort Frances Municipal Airport – small general aviation airport in
Fort Frances, Ontario
*
Fort Frances Water Aerodrome – private floatplane base on
Rainy Lake
*
List of airports in Minnesota
This is a list of airports in the U.S. state of Minnesota, grouped by type and sorted by location. It contains all public-use and military airports in the state. Some private-use and former airports may be included where notable, such as airport ...
References
Other sources
* Essential Air Service documents
Docket DOT-OST-2009-0160 from the
U.S. Department of Transportation:
*
Ninety-day notice (July 14, 2009) from Mesaba Aviation, Inc. of its intent to discontinue unsubsidized scheduled air service at the following communities, effective October 12, 2009: Paducah, KY; Alpena, MI; Muskegon, MI; Hancock, MI; Sault Ste. Marie, MI; International Falls, MN; Tupelo, MS and Eau Claire, WI.
* Essential Air Service documents
Docket OST-2009-0304 from the
U.S. Department of Transportation:
*
Memorandum (November 19, 2009) closing out docket DOT-2009-0160 and opening up eight new dockets for the various communities (Alpena, MI; Eau Claire, WI; Hancock/Houghton, MI; International Falls, MN; Muskegon, MI; Paducah, KY; Sault Ste. Marie, MI; Tupelo, MS).
*
Order 2010-5-18 (May 13, 2010) setting final past-period subsidy rates for Mesaba Airlines, Inc., d/b/a Delta Connection, for its forced service at Alpena and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, International Falls, Minnesota, and Tupelo, Mississippi. Also selecting Mesaba to provide essential air service (EAS) at three of these four communities on a prospective basis. At the fourth community, Tupelo, we are tentatively selecting Mesaba to provide service based on a pro-rata application of the rate Mesaba agreed to which the staff applied to a reduced service level.
*
Ninety Day Notice (July 15, 2011) from MESABA AVIATION, INC. and PINNACLE AIRLINES, INC. of termination of service at International Falls, MN.
*
Order 2011-9-5 (September 13, 2011) prohibiting suspension of service and requesting proposals
*
Order 2012-4-8 (April 5, 2012) selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) at International Falls, Minnesota, for $993,247 annual subsidy. The service is to consist of 18 nonstop round trips per week to Minneapolis (MSP) year round with 19-seat Beech 1900 aircraft.
*
Order 2012-6-3 (June 6, 2012) extending the Essential Air Service obligation of the two wholly owned subsidiaries of Pinnacle Airlines Corporation – Mesaba Aviation, Inc. and Pinnacle Airlines, d/b/a Delta Connection at the eight communities listed below (Muscle Shoals, AL; Alpena, MI; Iron Mountain/Kingsford, MI; Brainerd, MN; International Falls, MN; Greenville, MS; Laurel/Hattiesburg, MS; Tupelo, MS) for 30 days, through, July 9, 2012.
External links
Falls International Airport official website
at City of International Falls website
* at
Minnesota DOT Airport Directory
Aerial image as of May 1991from
USGS ''
The National Map''
*
{{authority control
Airports in Minnesota
Essential Air Service
Buildings and structures in Koochiching County, Minnesota
Transportation in Koochiching County, Minnesota
International Falls, Minnesota