Aberdeen Regional Airport


Aberdeen Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located two nautical miles east of the central business district of Aberdeen, a city in Brown County, South Dakota, United States. It is mostly used for general aviation, and is also served by one commercial airline.

Airline and destination

The airport is one of two commercial airports in the state of South Dakota with airline service to only one destination, the other being Pierre Regional Airport. Rapid City serves 14 destinations & Sioux Falls serves 12 destinations, while Watertown serves two destinations.

Map of destinations

Top destinations

FedEx Feeder is operated at the field by CSA Air.
UPS Feeder is operated by Encore Aviation

Facilities and aircraft

Aberdeen Regional Airport covers an area of at an elevation of 1,302 feet above mean sea level. It has two runways: 13/31 is 6,901 by 100 feet with a concrete surface; 17/35 is 5,500 by 100 feet with an asphalt surface.
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2017, the airport had 40,152 aircraft operations, an average of 110 per day: 83% general aviation, 4% scheduled commercial, 13% air taxi and <1% military. At that time there were 55 aircraft based at this airport: 34 single-engine, 15 multi-engine, 5 jet and 1 helicopter.
The passenger terminal is one of four terminals in South Dakota that boasts a moving jet bridge, the other three being Sioux Falls Regional Airport, Rapid City Regional Airport, and Pierre Regional Airport. The loading bridge allows passengers to board the aircraft from directly inside the terminal and right onto the aircraft without having to walk outside. As of March 2018, Delta Connection is the only commercial airline currently operating out of Aberdeen Regional Airport, providing jet only service on daily flights to Minneapolis/St. Paul on their Canadair Regional Jet 200.
Remarks:
In 1923, Aberdeen hosted the first fly-in event in South Dakota. During World War II, the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a contract glider training airfield owned by Anderson & Brennan Flying Service, beginning on 25 May 1942. The mission of the school was to train glider pilot students in proficiency in operation of gliders in various types of towed and soaring flight, both day and night, and in servicing of gliders in the field. They primarily used C-47 Skytrains and Waco CG-4 unpowered Gliders.
Originally named Aberdeen Municipal Airport, the name was changed to Saunders Field in 1946.

Notable visitors

President George W. Bush landed here in the early 2000s to speak at a rally at Northern State University. Reba McEntire also made a stop here on July 22, 2013, when the Phenom 100 jet she was traveling in stopped at the airport to refuel. McEntire was on her way to a concert in Edmonton, Alberta.