Reno–Tahoe International Airport is a public and military airport southeast of downtown Reno, in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It is the state's second busiest commercial airport after Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The Nevada Air National Guard has the 152nd Airlift Wing southwest of the airport's main terminal. The airport is named after both the City of Reno, Nevada and Lake Tahoe. The airspace of Reno-Tahoe Airport is controlled by the Northern California TRACON and Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center.
History
Early years
The airport was built in 1929 by Boeing Transport Inc. and named Hubbard Field after Boeing Air Transport VP and air transport pioneer Eddie Hubbard. It was acquired by United Airlines in 1936 and purchased by the City of Reno in 1953. The August 1953 OAG shows 15 scheduled departures each weekday; ten years later there were 28.
Jets (United 727s) arrived in June 1964; runway 16 (now 17R) was extended southward from 7800 to 9000 feet around that time. The airport didn't rate a nonstop to Los Angeles until 1969; a nonstop to Chicago began in 1970.
The first terminal building was completed in time for the 1960 Winter Olympics held in Squaw Valley, California in 1960. The present ticketing lobby and concourses were built in 1979. The airport received its current name in 1994 (which honors both the city and the nearby popular tourist destination Lake Tahoe), when the terminal was named in honor of retired Air Force Reserve Major General and former U.S. Senator Howard Cannon. Prior to that the airport itself was named Cannon International Airport.
Reno–Tahoe International was the hub of Reno Air, a now-defunct airline that had MD-80s and MD-90s to many cities until it was bought by American Airlines and later disposed of, in 2001. Reno Air's first flight was on July 1, 1992, and its last flight was August 30, 1999. On New Year's Eve of 2003, Continental Airlines completed the installation of self check-in in the continental United States at Reno International.
Expansion
In 1996, the baggage claim and ticketing area were updated with technology and decor. In 2008, the airport began a $70 million project that enhanced the baggage screening equipment and remodeled the ticketing area with a modern Tahoe theme; the project was entirely completed in 2010. In March 2013, a $24 million expansion of the airport was completed and focused on a new centralized TSA Security Checkpoint on the ground level, and above it, a shopping and dining promenade called "High Mountain Marketplace". Windows in the dining areas allow views of the mountains and runways. Future projects may include updates to the concourses.
International service
In February 2014, the airport announced that Volaris planned to start operating non-stop service flights to Guadalajara, Mexico sometime in 2015. Since the DOT approved the route, it is Reno's first international non-stop service since 1999. On October 7, 2014, the DOT and the airport announced that Volaris would start a twice weekly flight to Guadalajara, Mexico from Reno on December 16, 2014.
In November 2014, Thomas Cook Airlines announced that it planned to introduce twice weekly, non-stop flights from London–Gatwick to Reno starting in December 2015. It would have been the first transatlantic route from Reno Airport. However, Thomas Cook Airlines canceled these plans in May 2015 stating insufficient border control capacities at the airport to handle their Airbus A330. Finally, in September 2019, Thomas Cook went into compulsory liquidation.
Facilities
Overview
Reno–Tahoe International Airport covers at an elevation of . In the year ending June 30, 2019, the airport had 104,239 aircraft operations, with an average of 285 per day: 46% airline, 41% general aviation, 11% air taxi, and 2% military. At that time, 161 aircraft were based here: 104 single-engine, 19 multi-engine, 23 jet, 9 military, and 6 helicopter. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).
It has three concrete runways: 17R/35L is ; 17L/35R is ; 8/26 is . During September through November 2010, the airport opened a new ATCT to replace the control tower that had been used for more than 50 years. It was designed by the Parsons Design Firm, which is responsible for the design of many other ATCT towers. The cost of the new tower was about 30 million dollars.