Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Watertown Regional Airport lies two miles northwest of Watertown, South Dakota, and traces its origins to a Second World War Army Air Forces training field. Today it is a city-owned public airport with two long concrete runways, an ILS approach, and scheduled airline service alongside a healthy general aviation population, making it a straightforward and well-equipped stop for visiting VFR pilots on the northern plains.
Watertown Regional Airport serves the city of Watertown and surrounding Codington County in northeastern South Dakota. Owned by the City of Watertown, it began life as an Army airfield during the Second World War and has since developed into a modest regional airport combining scheduled airline flights with general aviation activity. For a simulator pilot, its long paved runways, ILS approach and rich wartime and airline history make it an interesting destination on the northern Great Plains.
The airport sits about two miles northwest of the city of Watertown in Codington County, South Dakota. En-route traffic in the area is worked by Minneapolis Center, reachable on 128.5 MHz, with Huron Radio available on 122.5 MHz for flight service assistance. The field itself is non-towered, with pilots coordinating locally via UNICOM.
Watertown Regional has two physical runways, both of hard (concrete) surface and lit. Runway 12/30 is approximately 6,888-6,889 feet long, and runway 17/35 is approximately 6,876 feet long. Runway 35 is equipped with an ILS approach, giving instrument pilots a precision option into the field.
Weather is available from the airport's ASOS on 126.625 MHz. Local traffic and airport advisories are handled on the CTAF/UNICOM frequency of 123.05 MHz, as the field has no operating control tower. Minneapolis Center can be contacted on 128.5 MHz for en-route services, and Huron Radio is available on 122.5 MHz. An ILS serves runway 35 for instrument approaches.
As a non-towered airport, arriving and departing traffic should self-announce intentions on the CTAF/UNICOM frequency of 123.05 MHz and monitor for other aircraft in the pattern. Current weather can be obtained from the on-field ASOS on 126.625 MHz before joining.
Watertown Regional Airport began as Watertown Army Airfield during the Second World War, when it operated as a Second Air Force cold weather bomber training base, serving as an auxiliary to Sioux Falls Army Air Field, and later came under Air Proving Ground Command. B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator crews carried out advanced training here before deploying overseas, including the 702d Bombardment Squadron of the 445th Bombardment Group. After the war the field became Watertown Municipal Airport and developed a long history of scheduled airline service, beginning around 1935 with Watertown Airways flying between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Watertown, with the route later extending through Huron, Pierre, Philip, Rapid City and Spearfish. Mid-Continent Airlines, Braniff International, North Central Airlines and its successor Republic Airlines each operated the route in turn, with North Central introducing the airport's first jet service using DC-9s in 1968. Mesaba Airlines, flying as Northwest Airlink and later Delta Connection, operated Saab 340s to Minneapolis-St. Paul for many years before Delta ended that service in 2011. Great Lakes Airlines, Aerodynamics Inc./California Pacific Airlines, SkyWest Airlines and Denver Air Connection have all served the field at various points since, reflecting the ebb and flow of Essential Air Service funding. The airport has also received notable visitors, with President Barack Obama landing there twice, once during his 2008 presidential campaign aboard a chartered Boeing 757, and again on May 8, 2015, arriving aboard a Boeing C-32 to address graduates of Lake Area Technical Institute.
Watertown Regional Airport today combines scheduled airline service with general aviation activity, based aircraft and instrument approach capability. As of August 2025, SkyWest Airlines provides daily service as both Delta Connection to Minneapolis-St. Paul and United Express to Denver. In the year ending December 31, 2022 the airport recorded 12,276 aircraft operations, about 34 per day, with the large majority general aviation traffic, and had 52 based aircraft including single and multi-engine piston aircraft, jets and gliders. Both runways were rebuilt in concrete between 2012 and 2018, replacing older asphalt surfaces, and a new two-level passenger terminal with a movable jet bridge opened in August 2022.To operate at any Amount of this level, PLease no PPR requirement is indicated for General aviation use of the field.
