OKC Will Rogers International Airport

OKC Will Rogers International Airport , formerly known as Will Rogers World Airport until 2024, is an airport located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, approximately 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Downtown Oklahoma City. Its facility is used jointly for civil and military, covering of land. Although the official IATA and ICAO airport codes for OKC Will Rogers International Airport are OKC and KOKC, it is common practice to refer to it as "WRWA" or "Will Rogers".

The airport is named for comedian and legendary cowboy Will Rogers, an Oklahoma native who died in an airplane crash near Utqiagvik, Alaska, in 1935. The city's other major airport, Wiley Post Airport, along with the Wiley Post–Will Rogers Memorial Airport in Utqiagvik, are named for Wiley Post, who also died in the same crash. The airport was the only airport to use "World" in its designation. International flights did not begin until November 8, 2025, with a new customs facility opening earlier in the year in preparation.

OKC Will Rogers International Airport is the busiest commercial airport in the state of Oklahoma. In 2019, the airport handled nearly 4.42 million passengers, marking the busiest year on record three years in a row. Southwest Airlines carries the most passengers at OKC Will Rogers International Airport, with a market share of nearly 48% as of April 2022.

thumb|World War II postcard from Will Rogers Army Airfield

During World War II, Will Rogers Field was a major training facility for the United States Army Air Forces; many fighter and bomber units were activated and received initial training there.

Army Air Forces groups known to have been stationed at Will Rogers Field include:

44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) July 1942 - August 28, 1942
46th Bombardment Group (Light) November 1942 - October 1943
47th Bombardment Group (Light) February 16, 1942 - July 18, 1942
48th Bombardment Group (Light) May 22, 1941 - February 7, 1942
86th Bombardment Group (Light) February 10, 1942 - June 20, 1942
311th Bombardment Group (Light) March 2, 1942 - July 4, 1942
312th Bombardment Group (Light) June 1942 - August 1942
409th Bombardment Group (Light) June 1, 1943 - October 1943
410th Bombardment Group (Light) July 1, 1943 - October 1943
411th Bombardment Group (Light) August 1, 1943 - August 15, 1943
416th Bombardment Group (Light) February 5, 1943 - June 4, 1943
417th Bombardment Group (Light) March 28, 1943 - August 4, 1943
9th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) October 1, 1943 - May 6, 1944
2d Reconnaissance Group October 7, 1943 - May 1, 1944
70th Tactical Reconnaissance Group November 14, 1943 – November 30, 1943

After completion of their initial training, these units were reassigned to other airfields for secondary training before deployment overseas.

Postwar

thumb|[[Bell P-39 Airacobra at Will Rogers Field, 1944|300px]]

The December 1951 C&GS chart showed four runways: the 5497-ft runway 3, 3801-ft runway 8, 5652-ft runway 12 and 5100-ft runway 17.

The April 1957 OAG showed 21 daily nonstop departures on Braniff International Airways, 15 on American Airlines, five on Central Airlines, four on Continental Airlines and three on TWA. A TWA Constellation aircraft flew nonstop from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles, but eastward nonstops didn't reach beyond Wichita, Kansas, Tulsa or Dallas, Texas. Oklahoma City began nonstop flights to Chicago starting in 1966.

2000–present

Great Plains Airlines, a regional airline based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, made Will Rogers World Airport a hub in 2001 with nonstop flights to Tulsa, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Colorado Springs, Colorado and direct or connecting flights to Nashville, Tennessee, St. Louis, Chicago, and Washington. The airline had hoped to reach additional East- and West-Coast markets but declared bankruptcy and ceased operations on January 23, 2004.

On May 31, 2013, an EF-1 tornado hit Will Rogers Airport. The 1.4-mile wide tornado traveled 10.4 miles, including across the northern side of the airport. The path of the tornado passed over the facilities of MetroTech, the FAA, the Oklahoma National Guard, AAR, the Four Points Hotel, and the passenger terminal and hangars on the north and east side of the airport. Minor damage was reported at AAR and other buildings in this path. The Parking Spot location north of the airport on Meridian Avenue was also hit by the tornado. The company decided in August 2013 not to re-open the facility and exit the OKC market.

The airport once partnered with Tinker AFB in presenting Aerospace America airshow.

On August 27, 2024, the city council of Oklahoma City approved a name change for the airport proposed by the OKC Airport Trust, officially changing the airport's name from "Will Rogers World Airport" to "OKC Will Rogers International Airport". It was announced in 2024 that the airport plans to expand routes to Mexico and the Caribbean in 2025.

On March 26, 2025, the airport's first nonstop international destination was announced. American Airlines began nonstop service to Cancún, Mexico on November 8, 2025.

Terminal

In the late 1990s, the Oklahoma City Airport Trust deemed the 1967-built terminal building unsuitable. Following the adoption of a three-phase master plan, preparations for renovating the airport were launched in 2001. The old twin concourses (visible in the 1995 photograph) were demolished to make way for a larger terminal with integrated concourses, high ceilings, and modern facilities.

thumb|WRWA East Concourse, with a [[Shuttle by United Boeing 737-500 aircraft]]

A $110 million multi-phase expansion and renovation project, designed by Atkins Benham Inc. and Gensler and built by Oscar J. Boldt Construction Company, began in 2001. Phase I involved erection of construction walkways from the five-story parking garage to the terminal building, demolishing the terminal's existing elevator core, construction of new elevator and escalator cores on the tunnel level and on level one, building temporary entrance and exit ramps for vehicles approaching and leaving the terminal, reconstruction of the roofs of the lower level and level one, finishing the elevator and escalator cores to level two, building new permanent entry and exit ramps for vehicles, and construction of a new transportation plaza and driving lanes. Officials later agreed to postpone the expansion plan due to the industry-wide decline in passenger traffic caused by the Great Recession.

During 2012, the Phase III expansion plan was updated to include a new Central Concourse reconfiguration plan. In 2014, the Airport Trust selected Option 2a, which includes only the central terminal improvements. The $3.6 million project will create a new central checkpoint in the center of the check-in hall. Two new greeter lobbies will be created where existing check points exist. The expansion will slightly reduce the space utilized by Sonic in the food court. The restrooms in the area will also be relocated to the nearby Osage room. The Southwest ticket counters will be relocated further east.

In 2015, the airport trust agreed to proceed with the full construction of the East Concourse due to increased congestion in the existing West and Central concourses and passenger demand. When completed, the existing terminal building would to the east and include a new passenger concourse initially with four gates, which would increase the number of boarding gates to 21. The new facility will have customs and immigration on the lower level accessed by the two easternmost gates and would serve international arrivals. The expansion will incorporate a single TSA screening zone in the center of the existing terminal, the food court will be removed and two reconstructed and arriving passengers would exit at the current TSA zones, which will be dramatically downsized into modern "meeter-greeter areas". The East expansion will include onsite USAA military welcoming facilities, expanded concessions and office space, and an updated terminal lobby.

The new concourse expansion project will also include an innovative view system composed of an elevated platform and lounge that will allow visitors to walk above the newly expanded East Concourse and view down onto the secure gate areas and out to the airside. Visitors would enter the elevated walkway at the terminal lobby non-secured side. This design is intended to provide visitors the experience of airports of old; where one could walk all the way to the gate – albeit today completely separated from the secured concourse space. The expansion broke ground in March 2019 and opened in September 2021. Construction began on the customs and immigration facility in 2024, and is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger