Rapid City Regional Airport


Rapid City Regional Airport is a public use airport, nine miles southeast of Rapid City, in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States.
It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027, in which it is categorized as a small-hub primary commercial service facility.
It is the closest commercial airport to Mount Rushmore and is the main gateway airport to the Black Hills.

Facilities

The airport covers at an elevation of. It has two runways: 14/32 is concrete and 5/23 is asphalt. A near-parallel grass runway exists approximately 2,400 feet from Runway 14/32; this runway, however, belongs to Dan's Airport, a small private airport.
2021 Total Commercial Passengers: 690,740

Terminal

The current terminal building opened in 1988; a $20.5 million expansion and renovation designed by TSP Architecture was completed in 2012. It includes 12,000 square feet of new floor space, the addition of three jet bridges and one boarding gate, an expanded security area with room for up to three lanes and body scanners, a new rental car wing, additional seating in the concourse, larger restrooms before and after security, modernized phone and data systems, new flight information boards, improved food service and shopping areas in the concourse, a rooftop patio, and energy-efficient windows and building exterior repair.
The Rapid City area has had a municipal airport since 1924. The first airport was situated near the railroad tracks along East North Street and was later dedicated as Halley Field Airport in 1929. In 1937, the Rapid City Municipal Airport was established at the current location of Ellsworth Air Force Base, before being relocated to its present site in 1950. The airport was renamed Rapid City Regional Airport in 1980, and a new terminal was opened in November 1988. The original 1950 terminal was demolished in 2016.

Airlines and destinations

Cargo

Destinations map

Historical airline service

Since 2020, several destinations have been cut from the airport's schedule and have not returned. Most of these routes were seasonal flights offered during the summer, with Allegiant Air offering flights from select cities for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August 2021. The terminated destinations included Appleton, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Nashville, Peoria, Pittsburgh, and Punta Gorda, New York-LaGuardia and Phoenix-Sky Harbor, Atlanta and Detroit, Salt Lake City, and Houston, Newark, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. United returned seasonal service from San Francisco for the 2024 Sturgis Rally, using the Embraer E175. Delta announced the return of the Atlanta route in December 2024, which began on May 24, 2025.

Ground transportation

As of 2022, there is no public transit to Rapid City Regional Airport. The nearest Rapid City Rapid Ride bus stop is located over six miles away. Lyft, Wridz and Uber are rideshare transportation options. Taxis are available from Rapid Cab. Six car rental counters are available in the terminal.