Rochester International Airport is an international airport located seven miles (11 km) south of downtown

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

in Olmsted County,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. It is the second-busiest airport in Minnesota. It used to be "Rochester Municipal Airport", its name before adding customs and immigration facilities specifically for Mayo Clinic purposes in 1995. The airport covers and has two concrete runways: runway 13/31 and runway 2/20. Airline service is currently provided by

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

, and Sun Country Airlines (seasonally). Charter service is also occasionally offered by Sun Country Airlines on

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

s. The airport has a large

FedEx Express FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2020, it is one of the world's largest airlines in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the na ...

freight terminal and a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

terminal.

History

The original Rochester airport was founded in 1928 by the

Mayo Foundation The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membersh ...

to bring patients to Mayo Clinic. It was in what is now southeast

and occupied 285 acres (1.2 km²). The following year "Rochester Airport" was dedicated, and the Rochester Airport Company was founded as a subsidiary of the Mayo Foundation.

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

began running Ford Trimotors to Rochester from

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. Rochester was one of the first destinations from the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...

in Northwest Airlines history, behind

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

, Green Bay, and Fargo. In 1940, the runways were paved and more land was acquired, bringing the airport's area to 370 acres (1.5 km²). During World War II, the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

conducted training operations from the airport. In 1945, the Mayo Foundation gave the airport to the city of Rochester, but the Rochester Airport Company continued to operate the field under an agreement with the city. The airport was renamed Lobb Field in 1952. In 1960, it was decided to replace Lobb Field with a new airport southwest of town because it could not be expanded to allow larger airliners and was too close to the urban area of Rochester. The original Rochester Airport closed in 1961. In 1960, Rochester Municipal Airport opened at its current location south of downtown Rochester; in 1965, runway 13 was 6400 feet and runway 2 was 4000 feet. Northwest and

Braniff Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...

moved to the new airport in 1960, but Ozark's DC-3s stayed at Lobb until 1961;

North Central Airlines North Central Airlines was a regional airline in the Midwestern United States. Founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, the company moved to Madison in 1947. This is also when the "Herman the duck" logo was bo ...

arrived in 1968, and Braniff left around the same time. The first jets were Northwest 727s in 1965. American Airlines began service to O'Hare International Airport in 1988. 1995 saw the addition of a

United States Customs Service The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...

post and it became the Rochester International Airport. Trans World Airlines operated flights to St. Louis in early-2001, but these routes were dropped very soon due to the merger with

. On September 15, 2005, the primary runway was lengthened from 7,533' to 9,034 following a three-month closure for renovations; runway centerline and touchdown zone lighting were added. The change was made to allow large wide body aircraft, which had been weight-restricted upon departure. In 1970, Imperial Airways offered scheduled helicopter service to

Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport , also less commonly known as Wold-Chamberlain Field, is a joint civil-military public-use international airport located in Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory, Minnesota, United States. Although ...

. On December 4, 1970, Imperial Airways announced it was canceling its scheduled helicopter flights in Minnesota, including from Minneapolis–St Paul to Rochester. In 2020, the airport received a $2,479,991

CARES Act The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2trillion Stimulus (economics), economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27, ...

award.

2009 tarmac stranding incident

The Rochester International Airport was the site of the six-hour 2009 tarmac stranding incident that made international news and resulted in the first fines ever imposed on airline carriers by the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States a ...

for stranding passengers on a tarmac.

Future

In March 2019, plans for construction of an additional gate and

jet bridge A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...

were announced. The proposal for the addition came after a large increase in passengers the previous year and congestion. In July 2019, the Rochester Airport Commission began accepting bids for the jet bridge project. The commission also discussed repaving parts of runway 02/20 as well as additional dining and shopping options in the terminal. At the end of July 2019, the airport received $3.3 million in federal grants to improvements, including the jet bridge project and runway reconstruction. In February 2020, the airport was awarded $750,000 by the United States Department of Transportation for attracting new service, with the federal grant's stated purpose being "revenue guarantee and marketing program to attract new service to

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

on United Airlines." Airport directors noted that the grant does not guarantee the new destination yet and also does not exclude possible other destinations.

Airlines and destinations

Airport directors are trying to get more service into Rochester. The directors have recently contacted the current providers, American and Delta, about adding more destinations, and have also contacted

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

and Frontier, to bring new nonstop destinations.RST Airside Times – Airport Director's Update
Rochester International Airport. Retrieved June 9, 2012. On February 26, 2017,

announced it was adding three daily flights to Chicago–O'Hare beginning June 8. The new flight was to compete with existing service from

. United later added service to

however these services proved unsuccessful in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and were discontinued in late 2021 as United exited the Rochester market entirely. In August 2012, just days after Allegiant Air announced flights between Rochester and Phoenix (Allegiant Air has since dropped its Rochester service altogether), the

gave the airport $500,000 and the city of Rochester gave the airport $250,000 to help recruit more airlines and non-stop destinations.Rochester Airport gets 750K for more air service
KTTC. Retrieved August 16, 2012. On May 31, 2018,

Elite Airways Elite Airways is an airline based in the United States operating charter and scheduled passenger flights. The airline adjusts destinations as demand increases or decreases. The airline is headquartered in Portland, Maine. History Elite Airways ...

announced that they would be launching service direct to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, and St. Augustine, Florida, starting in July 2018. This service was to allow Mayo Clinic staff, patients, and families to easily move back and forth between Mayo's headquarters in Rochester and its other main facilities in the Phoenix and

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

metropolitan areas. They ended the service on August 22, 2018, citing low bookings.

Cargo destinations

Top destinations

General aviation facilities

Rochester Aviation is the general aviation terminal at the airport. It is owned and operated by Hiawatha Aviation, Inc. The terminal provides line services, refueling services, and caters largely towards business aviation. On April 1, 2006, the ownership of Rochester Aviation was passed onto Regent Aviation of St. Paul. In November 2007, Regent Aviation in turn sold its ownership stake in Rochester's general aviation terminal to

Signature Flight Support Signature Aviation is a British multinational aviation services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The company has been known by numerous names over the years, having been founded as ''W. Wilson Cobbett Ltd'' in 1879; it was ren ...

, a worldwide fixed-base operator provider. Aircraft rental and flight instruction at RST are available through Great Planes Aviation, with various aircraft providing flight instruction with a group of

certified flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

s. The airport is also home to the Southeastern Minnesota Flying Club, which has had a presence at both RST and its predecessor Lobb Field for over 50 years.

Access

Transportation to Rochester International Airport is available from downtown Rochester via $30 taxi or $15 shuttle service. Rochester Yellow Cab, Rochester Taxi, and Med-City Taxi service the airport with both cabs and shuttles. Uber, Lyft, and other ride share apps are also available. Ground transportation to and from MSP airport is also available.

Rochester Public Transit Rochester Public Transit is the primary provider of mass transportation in Olmsted County, Minnesota with routes serving the Rochester area. As of 2019, the system provided 2,155,230 rides over 132,686 annual vehicle revenue hours with 68 buses ...

does not serve the airport.

Accidents near RST

* On December 8, 1985, a

Learjet 35 The Learjet Model 35 and Model 36 are a series of American multi-role business jets and military transport aircraft manufactured by Learjet. When used by the United States Air Force they carry the designation C-21A. The aircraft are powered by ...

operated by Corporate Air Inc, a training flight, rolled inverted and crashed after a missed approach. All three occupants died.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Airports in Minnesota 1928 establishments in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Olmsted County, Minnesota Transportation in Olmsted County, Minnesota Airports established in 1928 Rochester, Minnesota