: ''For the United States Air Force use of this facility, see

Duluth Air National Guard Base Duluth Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base located on the grounds of Duluth International Airport. It is home to the 148th Fighter Wing. History The City of Duluth purchased the original property for the airport in ...

.'' Duluth International Airport is a city-owned public-use joint civil-military airport located five nautical miles (9 km) northwest of the central business district of

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, a city in Saint Louis 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 t ...

, United States. It serves the

Twin Ports The Duluth MN-WI Metropolitan Area, commonly called the Twin Ports, is a small metropolitan area centered around the cities of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. The Twin Ports are located at the western part of Lake Superior (the weste ...

area, including

Superior, Wisconsin , native_name_lang = oj , nickname = , total_type = , motto = , image_skyline = Tower Avenue.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Downtown Superior , ima ...

. Mostly used for

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 ...

but also served by three airlines, it is Minnesota's third-busiest airport, behind Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and Rochester International Airport. The

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

's 148th Fighter Wing, equipped with F-16C Fighting Falcons, is based at

, which is located on the grounds of the airport. Aircraft manufacturing company Cirrus is also based on the airport grounds, where it has its main manufacturing facility and headquarters.

History

The City of Duluth purchased the original property for the airport in 1929 from Saint Louis County. The airport was constructed on of land with two sod runways. In 1930, the airfield was dedicated as Williamson–Johnson Municipal Airport. In 1940, Northwest Airlines began the first regularly scheduled air service to Duluth. Two years later, operations were temporarily halted by World War II. In 1942, three runways were paved. Each runway was long, wide, and at nearly equal angles from each other, 30, 90, and 130 degrees. They were identified as runways 3–21, 9–27, and 13–31, respectively. The Corps of Engineers extended Runways 9–27 and 3–21 to in 1945. In 1951, the USAF extended Runway 9–27 to with a overrun and the control tower was built. Runway 9–27 was rebuilt in 1956 and extended in 1966 to in length. The original terminal building was built in 1954, south of Runway 9–27 and west of Runway 3–21. The terminal floor area was with 280 parking spaces. It would serve the airport for nearly 20 years. In 1961, the Duluth Airport Authority Board renamed the facility Duluth International Airport. In 1973, a new Terminal Building and U.S. Customs, International Arrivals Building, were completed east of Runway 13–31 and opened for operation. Runway 13–31 was shortened to to accommodate construction of an addition to the International Arrivals building. This resulted in Runway 13–31 being closed as a runway due to obstructions. Runway 13–31 was re-striped in 1980, decreasing its width to , for use as a taxiway. In 1989, the newer terminal building and the adjacent structures were connected to form one enclosure. The original terminal building was then converted for use as offices for general aviation, the FAA, and the U.S. Weather Bureau. The 1973 terminal building had its last flight take place on January 13, 2013. In 2013, a new passenger terminal was built directly in front of the 1973 terminal. This new building solved several problems of the previous terminal building, including that the tails of parked airplanes extended too close to the runway due to FAA airspace changes made after the building's completion. This terminal building has restrooms and concessions beyond the TSA security checkpoint, something the previous terminal lost when screening processes were put in place after 9/11. The first flight to leave the new terminal was on January 14: United Express Flight 5292 to Chicago O'Hare. On October 30, 2015, the new terminal was named for the late U.S. Representative Jim Oberstar, who represented the congressional district in which the airport lies from 1975 to 2011 and helped secure funding for the facility before its 2013 opening. A 370-stall parking ramp with skywalk connection to the terminal was completed in fall 2014. On May 23, 2019,

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

began twice-daily service to Chicago O'Hare International Airport. American ceased operations into Duluth in April 2020, citing lackluster demand. In 2020, the airport received a $5,246,844 federal grant via the

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, ...

Facilities and aircraft

Duluth International Airport covers an area of at an elevation of 1,428 feet (435 m) above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ...

. It has two

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

s: 9/27 is with a concrete surface and 3/21 is with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

surface. For the year ending December 31, 2017, the airport had 64,053 aircraft operations, an average of 175 per day: 79%

, 7%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, 13%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

and 2% scheduled commercial. In October 2018, there were 88 aircraft based at this airport: 49 single-engine, 10 multi-engine, 4 jet, 4

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

and 21

Airlines and destinations

Ground transportation

The

Duluth Transit Authority The Duluth Transit Authority (DTA) is the transit agency that provides mass transit service — currently, only buses — in the city of Duluth, Minnesota, United States. The agency also serves nearby Proctor, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsi ...

operates two bus routes from the airport, including Route 8 on weekdays and Route 5 on weekends.

Statistics

Top destinations

Accidents

*On May 31, 1954, a

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

Douglas C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

crashed in a gravel pit in heavy fog at then Duluth-Williamson-Johnson Municipal Airport. Seven of the 14 occupants on board were killed.

References

External links

Duluth International Airport
official website
Aerial image as of 10 May 1991
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to prov ...

'' * at Minnesota DOT Airport Directory * * {{Airports in Minnesota Airports in Minnesota Transportation in Duluth, Minnesota Buildings and structures in Duluth, Minnesota Airports established in 1930 1930 establishments in Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota