La Crosse Regional Airport is a public airport located northwest of

La Crosse La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's populat ...

, a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. Until August 2013 the airport was called La Crosse Municipal Airport. It occupies the northern area of

French Island French Island can refer to: *French Island (Victoria), in Australia *French Island, Wisconsin, in the United States * French Island No. 1 and French Island No. 2 in the Ohio River in Kentucky *French Island, an island in Ellis Pond, Oxford County, ...

, next to the Mississippi River. La Crosse's airport is the closest scheduled airline airport to the U.S. Army Fort McCoy base near Sparta, Wisconsin. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

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 2023–2027

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it as a non-hub primary commercial service facility. It is the sixth busiest of eight commercial airports in Wisconsin in terms of passengers served.

History

The La Crosse Airport can accommodate the largest aircraft. One of the largest passenger jets, the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

(AF1), has made overnight trips to this airport with every

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

for the last 20 years. In 1998 President Bill Clinton flew to La Crosse in AF1

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

( VC-137C SAM 26000). This was the last time a US President flew on this plane, which was retired to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. One of the world's largest cargo jets, a Russian Antonov An-124, has flown to La Crosse airport. The US military

C-5A The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-ran ...

cargo and KC-10 Extender cargo/refueling jets have been at the annual summer Deke Slayton Airshow (area

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

), Airfest at the airport, along with vintage and modern military and private planes. The show has also featured the US Navy Blue Angels and the

US Air Force Thunderbirds The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron ("Thunderbirds") is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force The Thunderbirds are assigned to the 57th Wing, and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Created in 1953, the USAF Th ...

. In the past,

Sun Country Sun Country Airlines is an American ultra-low-cost passenger and cargo airline, and the eleventh largest in the US by passengers carried. Based at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport with headquarters on airport property, Sun Count ...

Airlines has flown DC-10 (380 passenger seats) on charter flights from La Crosse to other cities. The New Orleans Saints NFL football team flew the 180-seat Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 planes each week to La Crosse for summer camp, and to and from NFL cities for pre-season games. The airport's

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

was one of 143 towers slated for closure by the FAA due to the 2013 federal sequester. However, the closures did not occur after Congress restored funding to the FAA.

Facilities

The airport covers 1,380

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s (558 ha) at an elevation of . It has three runways: 18/36 is concrete; 13/31 is asphalt; 4/22 is asphalt. The original runway layout is still in use, with many improvements. The 8,742-foot paved runway is the fourth longest in Wisconsin, after runways at MKE, MSN and VOK airfields. The airport has a modern two-story passenger terminal with three gates. The following are provided: * Delta Air Lines passenger counter and kiosk * American Airlines passenger counter and kiosk * Ground Transportation **

Bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...

Avis Avis is Latin for bird and may refer to: Aviation *Auster Avis, a 1940s four-seat light aircraft developed from the Auster Autocrat (abandoned project) *Avro Avis, a two-seat biplane *Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate Avis, an early aircraft built by ...

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** Enterprise * Arrowhead Taphouse and Gifts, * Conference rooms There are 11 corporate hangars and eight multi-aircraft T-hangars on the airport property. There is a cellphone-use free parking area for those awaiting passenger arrivals. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 21,053 aircraft operations, an average of 58 per day: 67% general aviation, 28% air taxi / airline and 5% military. In December 2022, there were 73 aircraft based at this airport: 60 single-engine, 5 multi-engine and 8 jet.

Airlines and destinations

Two major airlines, Delta Air Lines, served by Delta Connection, and American Airlines served by American Eagle, have 3 daily departures and arrivals with direct service to Chicago and Minneapolis.

Sun Country Airlines Sun Country Airlines is an American ultra-low-cost passenger and cargo airline, and the eleventh largest in the US by passengers carried. Based at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport with headquarters on airport property, Sun Coun ...

provides periodic Boeing 737 flights to cities such as

Bullhead City, Arizona Bullhead City is a city located on the Colorado River in Mohave County, Arizona, United States, south of Las Vegas, Nevada, and directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, whose casinos and ancillary services supply much of the em ...

(next to Laughlin, Nevada). La Crosse Regional Airport is served by Delta Connection's 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 and occasionally the newer 76-seat Bombardier CRJ900 or

Embraer 175 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding ...

. American Eagle now flies the Embraer 145 and the larger CRJ700s from Chicago.

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Number of daily flights

Carrier shares

Top destinations

Annual traffic

References

External links

La Crosse Regional Airport
official website * at the

Wisconsin DOT The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin responsible for planning, building and maintaining the state's highways. It is also responsible for planning transportation in the state ...

Airport Directory
Aerial video of La Crosse Regional Airport
video at YouTube.com * *
{{List of airports Airports in Wisconsin La Crosse, Wisconsin Buildings and structures in La Crosse County, Wisconsin