For the United States Air Force use of this facility, see Duluth Air National Guard Base

Duluth Air National Guard Base

Duluth Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base located on the grounds of Duluth International Airport. It is home to the 148th Fighter Wing.-History:...

Duluth International Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located five nautical miles (9 km) northwest of the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 of Duluth

Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...

, a city in St. Louis County

St. Louis County, Minnesota

St. Louis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 200,226. Its county seat is Duluth. It is the largest county by total area in Minnesota, and the second largest in the United States east of the Mississippi River; in land area alone, after Aroostook...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It serves the Duluth-Superior area including Superior, Wisconsin

Superior, Wisconsin

Superior is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 26,960 at the 2010 census. Located at the junction of U.S. Highways 2 and 53, it is north of and adjacent to both the Village of Superior and the Town of Superior.Superior is at the western...

. It is mostly used for general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 but is also served by three commercial airlines.

The Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 Air National Guard

Air National Guard

The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...

's 148th Fighter Wing

148th Fighter Wing

The 148th Fighter Wing is a unit of the Minnesota National Guard based at Duluth International Airport. It falls under 1st Air Force and Air Combat Command...

, equipped with F-16C Fighting Falcons, is based at Duluth Air National Guard Base

Duluth Air National Guard Base

Duluth Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base located on the grounds of Duluth International Airport. It is home to the 148th Fighter Wing.-History:...

.

History

The City of Duluth purchased the original property for the airport in 1929 from St. Louis County. The airport was constructed on 640 acres (2.6 km²) of land with two 2650 feet (807.7 m) sod runways. Subsequently, in 1930, the airfield was dedicated as a public airport. The airport was called the Williamson-Johnson Municipal Airport until 1963 at which time it was renamed Duluth International Airport.

In 1942, the three existing runways were paved. Each runway was 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) long, 150 feet (45.7 m) wide, and at nearly equal angles from each other, 30, 90, and 130 degrees. They were identified as runways 3-21, 9-27, and 13-31 respectively. The Corps of Engineers extended runway 9-27 and Runway 3-21 to 5699 feet (1,737.1 m) in 1945. In 1951 the USAF extended Runway 9-27 to 9000 feet (2,743.2 m) with a 1000 feet (304.8 m) overrun and the control tower was built. Runway 9-27 was completely rebuilt in 1956 and further extended in 1966 to 10152 feet (3,094.3 m) in length.

The original terminal building was built in 1954, south of Runway 9-27, on the west side of Runway 3-21 and served the airport for nearly 20 years. The terminal floor area was 14200 square feet (1,319.2 m²) with 280 parking spaces.

In 1974, a new Terminal Building and U.S. Customs, International Arrivals Building, were completed east of Runway 13-31 and open for operation. Runway 13-31 was shortened to 2578 feet (785.8 m) to accommodate construction of an addition to the International Arrivals building. This resulted in Runway 13-31 being closed as a runway due to obstructions. Runway 13-31 was subsequently re-striped in 1980, decreasing its width to 75 feet (22.9 m), for use as a taxiway only. In 1989, the new Terminal building and the adjacent structures were connected to form one enclosure. The original terminal building was then converted for use as offices for general aviation, the FAA, and the U.S. Weather Bureau.

Future

Future air service
The Duluth Airport board is currently looking for possible carriers to serve Duluth International Airport. The most wanted new service is non-stop service to Chicago which took effect Dec. 17, 2009 by United Express. (American Airlines used to have Chicago O'Hare-Duluth service but had to stop this service because of flight restrictions at Chicago O'Hare Airport).

New terminal
A new terminal is under construction to replace the old terminal at Duluth International Airport. The new terminal will be able to handle more people, flights, and airlines.

Facilities and aircraft

Duluth International Airport covers an area of 3020 acres (1,222.2 ha) at an elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....

 of 1,428 feet (435 m) above mean sea level. It has two runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

s: 9/27 is 10,162 by 150 feet (3,097 x 46 m) with a concrete surface and 3/21 is 5,718 by 150 feet (1,743 x 46 m) with an asphalt

Asphalt

Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...

 surface.

For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2007, the airport had 67,752 aircraft operations, an average of 185 per day: 76% general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

, 10% military

Military aviation

Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...

, 8% air taxi

Air taxi

An air taxi is an air charter passenger or cargo aircraft which operates on an on-demand basis.-Regulation:In the United States, air taxi and air charter operations are governed by Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations , unlike the larger scheduled air carriers which are governed by more...

, and 6% scheduled commercial

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

. At that time there were 86 aircraft based at this airport: 60% single-engine

Aircraft engine

An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...

, 13% multi-engine, 1% helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

 and 26% military

Military aircraft

A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...

.

Airlines and destinations

Top Destinations

Top ten busiest domestic routes out of DHL
(January 2012 - December 2012)

Rank	City	Passengers	Carriers
1	Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN	83,200	Delta
2	Chicago, IL O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...	33,488	United
3	Detroit, MI Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport , usually called Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Airport locally, or simply DTW, is a major international airport covering in Romulus, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It is Michigan's busiest airport....	18,200	Delta
4	Las Vegas, NV McCarran International Airport McCarran International Airport is the principal commercial airport serving Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. The airport is located five miles south of the central business district of Las Vegas, in the unincorporated area of Paradise in Clark County. It covers an area of and...	10,800	Allegiant
5	Mesa, AZ Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport , formerly Williams Gateway Airport and Williams Air Force Base , is a commercial airport located in the southeastern area of the city of Mesa, Arizona, and southeast of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The airport is owned and operated by the...	9,600	Allegiant
6	Orlando, FL	7,200	Allegiant

Cargo

External links

• Duluth International Airport official website
• Aerial image as of 10 May 1991 from USGS The National Map at Minnesota DOT Airport Directory