Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport (KROC) is a Class C, tower-controlled international airport in Monroe County, New York, about three miles southwest of downtown Rochester. It offers a full ILS-equipped runway complex and a long aviation history stretching back to the barnstorming era, making it an interesting and well-equipped destination for VFR and IFR flights alike.
Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport, generally known simply as Rochester or by its ICAO code KROC, is a publicly owned, tower-controlled airport serving the city of Rochester and the wider Monroe County area of upstate New York. It is owned and operated by Monroe County and handles a mix of scheduled airline traffic, general aviation, cargo and military users, including the 642nd Aviation Support Battalion of the 42nd Infantry Division. For a simulator pilot, its combination of a long primary runway, an ILS-served crosswind runway and Class C airspace makes it a good training ground for controlled-field procedures.
KROC sits within Class C airspace and is served by its own approach and departure control. The airport lies roughly three miles (about six kilometres) southwest of downtown Rochester, New York, in Monroe County. It is a large, all-weather international field handling both domestic airline services and general aviation traffic, and pilots should expect to operate under positive ATC control throughout the Class C surface area and approach corridors.
KROC has three physical runway pairs, all asphalt and lit. Runway 04/22 is the primary runway, about 7,976 feet long, with an ILS approach available to both ends. Runway 10/28 is roughly 6,093 feet long, with an ILS serving runway 28. Runway 07/25 is the shorter crosswind runway, about 3,984 feet long, lit but without an ILS.
Rochester Tower operates on 118.3 MHz, which also serves as the clearance delivery frequency. Ground control is on 121.7 MHz, and the ATIS broadcasts on 124.825 MHz. Approach and departure control use 119.55 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz, and a remote radio outlet callsign BUFFALO RADIO operates on 122.6 MHz. The emergency frequency 121.5 MHz is also available. The airport is equipped with instrument landing systems, providing precision approaches to several runway ends.
As a Class C, tower-controlled airport, all arriving and departing traffic at KROC operates under the direction of Rochester Tower and the associated approach/departure control, rather than following an uncontrolled traffic-pattern joining procedure. Pilots should expect to be sequenced and given specific instructions for pattern entry, runway assignment and departure routing by ATC.
The land now occupied by the airport was first used for aviation as early as 1919, when it was known as Britton Field. The Rochester Aircraft Corporation flew its first passenger flight from the field on 18 August 1919 in a Curtiss JN-4 piloted by Earl F. Beers, a local aviation pioneer who later campaigned for the municipal purchase of the field. Britton Field hosted the United States Flying Circus in September 1919 and was a stop on a cross-country air race won by Lieutenant Belvin Maynard, "The Flying Parson," who landed there in October 1919 after a 22-minute flight from Buffalo. The Rochester City Council authorised purchase of the field as a municipal aviation station in December 1919. Through the 1920s the field was used by Eastman Kodak and the US Army for aerial photography testing, and in October 1926 the Fokker monoplane "Josephine Ford," flown by Commander Richard Byrd over the North Pole, was exhibited there as part of a national tour. Charles Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis into the field on 29 July 1927 during an air tour of New York State. Construction of Hangar No. 1 in 1927 marked the start of the airport's modern era, and in 1928 the field was renamed Rochester Municipal Airport, gaining further hangars, runways and drainage improvements. After the Second World War the airport expanded rapidly alongside growing passenger traffic and civilian pilot training, and a flight training school was established. Monroe County took over control of the airport in 1948, adding a 5,000-foot instrument runway and extending the north-south runway. A new terminal opened in 1953 and was expanded through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 2020 Monroe County legislators voted to rename the airport in honour of Frederick Douglass.
KROC remains an active international airport combining scheduled airline services, general aviation, cargo operations and military aviation, including a resident Army Aviation Support Battalion. It recorded its busiest summer in over fifteen years in 2025 and continues to host public events such as the Rochester International Airshow. As a controlled Class C airport, prior permission is not typically required for transient civil traffic, though pilots should expect to operate under full ATC control for arrival, departure and ground movement.