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Rochester International Airport (KRST) lies seven miles south of downtown Rochester, Minnesota, serving both scheduled airline traffic and the general aviation community that supports the nearby Mayo Clinic. Its two long hard-surfaced runways, one with an ILS, make it a straightforward and well-equipped destination for visiting VFR and IFR pilots alike.
Rochester International Airport is a public airport owned and operated by the City of Rochester, Minnesota, located about seven miles south of the city's downtown in Olmsted County. It handles a mix of airline, cargo and general aviation traffic and is a hub for Mayo Clinic MedAir, reflecting the airport's long association with the adjacent Mayo Clinic. For a visiting sim pilot it offers long, well-lit concrete runways and full instrument approach facilities in an otherwise rural southern Minnesota setting.
The airport sits in Olmsted County, seven miles south of downtown Rochester, Minnesota, at coordinates 43.9083 N, 92.5000 W and an elevation of 1,289 feet. It holds international airport status, having gained a United States Customs Service post in 1995 to support Mayo Clinic-related traffic.
The airfield has two physical runways. Runway 13/31 is 9,029 feet long, has a hard surface, is lit, and is equipped with an ILS. Runway 02/20 is 7,281 feet long, has a hard surface and is lit, but has no ILS. Field elevation is 1,289 feet.
Air-to-ground and approach/departure services are provided on 119.2 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 120.5 MHz. The common traffic advisory frequency and tower are both on 118.3 MHz, with ground control on 121.9 MHz. A remote radio outlet (Princeton Radio) operates on 122.45 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Runway 13/31 is served by an ILS approach.
The original Rochester airport was established in 1928 by the Mayo Foundation specifically to bring patients to the Mayo Clinic, occupying 285 acres in what is now southeast Rochester. The following year it was dedicated as Rochester Airport, with the Rochester Airport Company formed as a Mayo Foundation subsidiary, and Northwest Airlines began Ford Trimotor service from the Twin Cities, making Rochester one of Northwest's earliest destinations. The runways were paved in 1940 and the field expanded to 370 acres. During the Second World War the Army Air Corps used the airport for training. The Mayo Foundation transferred ownership to the City of Rochester in 1945, though the Rochester Airport Company continued to operate it under agreement, and the field was renamed Lobb Field in 1952. By 1960 Lobb Field could not be expanded to handle larger airliners and was too close to the growing city, so a new Rochester Municipal Airport opened at the present site seven miles south of downtown; the old field closed in 1961, though Ozark Air Lines' DC-3 service continued from Lobb until then. North Central Airlines arrived in 1968 and the first jet service, Northwest 727s, began in 1965. American Airlines added service to Chicago O'Hare in 1988, and in 1995 the addition of a US Customs post led to the airport being renamed Rochester International Airport. The primary runway was lengthened from 7,533 feet to its current 9,034 feet in a 2005 renovation that also added centreline and touchdown zone lighting, allowing wide-body aircraft to operate without weight restriction. In May 2023 the airport's crosswind runway, then numbered 2/20, was relabelled 3/21 to reflect the drift of magnetic north. The airport was also the site of a widely reported six-hour tarmac stranding incident in 2009, which led to the first fines imposed by the US Department of Transportation on airlines for stranding passengers.
Rochester International Airport continues to combine scheduled airline service, operated by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, with a substantial general aviation presence and a large FedEx Express freight terminal. It is a hub for Mayo Clinic MedAir and is home to the Southeastern Minnesota Flying Club, which has maintained a presence at the field and its predecessor Lobb Field for over fifty years. The airport has a general aviation terminal separate from the passenger terminal.
