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Laredo International Airport (KLRD) lies three miles northeast of downtown Laredo, Texas, on the US-Mexico border, and offers sim pilots a busy mix of airline, cargo, general-aviation and military training traffic against a backdrop of Cold War pilot-training history. Its long, ILS-equipped runways and full-time tower make it a straightforward yet interesting stop for VFR or IFR flights in South Texas.
Laredo International Airport sits on the Texas side of the Rio Grande, three miles northeast of Laredo's central business district in Webb County. It is a city-owned, publicly operated field that today handles scheduled airline services, substantial air cargo traffic and general aviation, alongside a legacy as a major military pilot-training base. For a simulator pilot the field offers long paved runways, an instrument approach, and a genuinely mixed traffic environment that reflects its border-crossing role.
The airport is a controlled aerodrome with its own tower, situated close to the international boundary with Mexico at Nuevo Laredo. It lies within Houston Center's airspace, which provides en-route control (127.8 MHz) around Laredo. The field is about three miles northeast of downtown Laredo, and pilots operating here should be alert to the proximity of the border and the associated customs requirements for arriving international flights.
Laredo has three physical runways, all concrete and lit. The primary runway, 18R/36L, is about 8,750 ft long and is equipped with an ILS for approaches to 18R. The parallel runway, 18L/36R, is roughly 8,300 ft long. A shorter crosswind runway, 14/32, measures 5,923 ft. Field elevation is 489 ft.
Laredo Tower operates on 120.1 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF. Ground control is on 121.8 MHz, and ATIS broadcasts weather and field information on 125.775 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. A remote radio outlet for flight service, identified as San Angelo Radio, is available on 122.3 MHz. Houston Center provides en-route control on 127.8 MHz. Runway 18R is served by an ILS approach.
The airfield began life as Laredo Army Airfield, used by the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War, and later became Laredo Air Force Base, a Cold War-era US Air Force pilot training station flying the T-33 Shooting Star and, later, the T-37 Tweet and T-38 Talon. Military flying ended in December 1973 as part of nationwide post-Vietnam defence cutbacks. Commercial air service, previously based at the now-closed Laredo Municipal Airport, transferred to this field in the summer of 1975 when Texas International Airlines (formerly Trans-Texas Airways) moved its operations here and upgraded from Convair 600 propliners to Douglas DC-9 jets. Since then a succession of airlines and air-freight carriers have used the airport. A statue at the airport entrance, Among Friends There Are No Borders by Laredo artist Armando Hinojosa, depicts a South Texas vaquero and a Mexican charro sharing a campfire, a nod to the field's border-straddling character.
Laredo International today serves scheduled passenger airlines flying to destinations including Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Las Vegas and Monterrey, alongside a significant cargo operation handling international freight across the border. General aviation, air taxi and a continuing military presence make up a large share of movements, and the airport has customs facilities for international arrivals. Prior permission is required for some categories of operation given the border-crossing and customs procedures in place.
