Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Missoula Montana Airport (KMSO), historically known as Missoula International Airport and officially named Johnson-Bell Field, sits on the western edge of Missoula, Montana, amid the mountainous terrain of the Bitterroot Valley. It is a busy commercial field with a control tower, an ILS-equipped main runway, and a long-standing role as a base for wildland firefighting aviation, making it a distinctive stop for VFR pilots exploring mountain flying in western Montana.
Missoula Montana Airport, ICAO code KMSO, is a publicly owned, primary commercial service airport in Missoula, Montana, operated by the Missoula County Airport Authority. Long known as Missoula International Airport before a 2021 rebranding, it carries the formal name Johnson-Bell Field in honour of two figures from the region's early aviation history. For a simulator pilot, the airport is notable both for its long, ILS-served main runway set against mountainous terrain and for its role as home to one of the largest smokejumper bases in the United States, alongside aerial firefighting operator Neptune Aviation.
The airport lies in Missoula, Missoula County, Montana, at an elevation of 3,199 feet. It is served by an air traffic control tower, with overlying approach and departure control provided by Spokane Approach/Departure on 124.9 MHz. The field is positioned within the mountainous Bitterroot Valley terrain typical of western Montana, which should be borne in mind when planning arrivals and departures.
Missoula has two physical runways. The main runway, 12/30, is 9,482 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with an ILS on runway 12. The secondary runway, 08/26, is 4,600 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit, but without an instrument approach.
The airport is served by a control tower on 118.4 MHz, which also functions as the CTAF. Ground control operates on 121.9 MHz, and the ATIS broadcasts on 126.65 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Overlying approach and departure services are provided by Spokane Approach/Departure on 124.9 MHz, with a remote communications outlet to Great Falls Radio on 122.45 MHz. Runway 12 is equipped with an ILS approach.
Missoula's aviation history began in 1923 with a landing strip laid out south of the university. A further strip near the Western Montana Fair Grounds, on the site of what is now Sentinel High School, was sold to the county in 1927 at the request of the Missoula chapter of the National Aeronautic Association, becoming the city's first true airport; it was renamed Hale Field in 1935 and closed permanently in 1954. The present airfield traces to the Missoula County Airport, opened in 1941 with Works Progress Administration funding and the cooperation of the US Forest Service, which required airport access for its operations. It was renamed Johnson-Bell Field in 1968, honouring Harry O. Bell, first president of the Missoula chapter of the National Aeronautic Association, and mountain flying pioneer Bob Johnson of Johnson Flying Service, the forerunner of Minuteman Aviation. The airport has long hosted a US Forest Service smokejumper base, the largest of seven such bases in the country. A new 101-foot control tower, one of the tallest in the Pacific Northwest and the tallest in Montana, was completed in September 2012, replacing a tower that had opened in 1961. The airport operated under the name Missoula International Airport before being renamed Missoula Montana Airport in September 2021.
Missoula Montana Airport continues to operate as a primary commercial service airport with a control tower and full instrument approach capability on its main runway. It remains home to a US Forest Service smokejumper base, the largest of its kind in the nation, and to Neptune Aviation, an aerial firefighting company based on the field. A significant terminal redevelopment was completed in 2022, with further expansion works announced subsequently, though these relate to passenger facilities rather than flying operations.