RNO - Reno/Tahoe International 🇺🇸

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Airport Name and ICAO/IATA Code
Reno/Tahoe International Airport

IATA: RNO / ICAO: KRNO / FAA LID: RNO
Opened in 1929, at the time known as Hubbard Field

Location (City, Country)
Reno, Washoe County, Nevada, United States of America ( )

Airport Type & Size
RNO is a mid-size international airport located in Nevada, serving the city of Reno - and by extension the Lake Tahoe area - serving 4.9 million passengers per year as of 2025, making it the second busiest airport in the state, behind Las Vegas. The airport’s standard traffic involves narrowbody aircraft such as 737s, A320s, and Embraers for passenger service, alongside A300s, 757s and 767s for cargo service; it has handled passenger/charter aircraft up to the 747-400, and cargo aircraft up to the An-124.

RNO has 1 terminal and 2 concourses, known as Concourse B and C (C is the northern concourse, B is southern), with 23 jet bridge gates in total across both, with possibly a few remote parking positions as potential passenger/combined stands next to the concourses.
There are also quite a few parking positions for cargo aircraft, with around 5-6 for widebody aircraft, and also around 5 for narrowbody aircraft - though a few of such parking positions overlap.

(Just a little note, airport is currently preparing to replace the current concourses entirely with new, expanded ones - both known as Concourse A and B - with ground broken this year, and an expected completion date into the 2028/2029 time period. More details on this will be provided below.)

As for the runways, RNO has three runways, two parallel to each other and one intersecting.
The two parallel runways are known as 17R/35L and 17L/35R (formerly 19R/34L and 19L/34R). The former is the longest of the two, with a listed length of 11,001 ft (3,353m), whereas the latter has a length of 9,000ft (2,743m). Both of these runways are also positioned close to each other, so I believe they’re incapable of independent operations.
Now, about the intersecting runway, it is known as 08/26 (formerly 07/25), and has a provided length of 6,102ft (1,860m). It is used much less frequently, and when it is, it’s typically only used by smaller general aviation aircraft (or similar), but it can see use with commercial aircraft on rare occasions, according to RNO’s website.
All runways have a listed width of 150ft (46m).

The airport is also considered a public/military airport; Nevada’s ANG has the 152nd Airlift Wing present at the airport, with their apron located a few hundred meters south of the main terminal concourses. Their current equipment involves the C-130H, which are seen regularly at the airport, which could make for some nice additional scenery or even potential for military flights.

Now, for the future of RNO, there is an expansion project well underway - and partially complete - known as “MoreRNO”, which so far has brought new changes to the airport such as updated infrastructure, and will notably bring the addition of the aforementioned brand-new Concourses - A and B - which will replace the current concourses, which will be larger, allow for dual taxiways between the two concourses, and of course overhaul the look of the concourses, allowing for a more refined, modern look.
(Renders of these new concourses will be provided below.)

Why should this airport be added to World of Airports?
I’d say this airport should be added to World of Airports primarily because of its surrounding Sierra Nevada scenery and architecture, the potential to provide a refreshing contrast from large superhub-like airports if added, its unique gameplay and runway layout (kind of like a smaller-scale mix of GRU and SYD, I’d think) and in general, I really feel as if it would be a great, fun addition for North America.

Major Airlines & Routes
When it comes to this airport, there’s quite a variety of airlines from all corners of the United States - yet interestingly no airlines appear to use RNO as a hub or base, however I’ll put in the most active airlines at the airport regardless.
Major airlines at the airport (in order of each airline’s relevance at the airport):

Southwest, Frontier, United Airlines/Express, Alaska Airlines, JSX - major airlines at RNO

Notable historical routes/airlines

Historical Airlines
While it is true no airlines currently hold a hub at RNO, there have been quite a few airlines over the years that have had hubs at RNO, or ones I found that I believed were simply notable enough to include.

To name some I found, there’s Aha! (2021 - 2022), Air Chaparral (1980 - 1983), Great American Airways (1979 - 1997), TriStar Airlines (1995 - 1997), Sunworld International Airways (1983 - 1988), and then of course Reno Air (1990 - 1999).
(And no, TriStar Airlines did not, in fact, operate the TriStar.)

Historical Routes
There were also some former routes operated by airlines notably including FedEx and UPS, who checking back to last year, had a decent network of routes - though they appear to be put on hold or suspended in the present. I’m unsure as to why, honestly…

(Edit: Been looking around on the likes of Flightradar and a few livestreams and found quite a number of cargo flights still visiting RNO, notably from FedEx, so I’m unsure why the Wikipedia page doesn’t include them anymore in the airlines list. Quite weird.)

(Pictured below: A revision from November 9th, 2025)

On another note, I do think there’s also the potential for the USAF itself to also be a local for this airport, as of course there’s the aforementioned Airlift Wing with their C-130s based here; if so, maybe the military ramp could even be worked in for of course exclusively military ops, though that might be a bit complicated to develop? I’m not sure honestly, but it’s fun to think about.

Unique Features or Challenges
Now, this airport I can envision would have quite a few features and challenges if implemented, so I’ll cover what I believe they might be:

First, let’s discuss the airlines. With no airlines having a true hub at the airport currently, I’d envision there would only be a few airlines to work with, yet ones I believe would be quite unique, nonetheless. Of course, as established, Southwest could be a local for this airport, having the most routes, but I do also think the USAF or historical airlines (such as Aha!) could be locals for this airport, which I believe - especially in the former’s case - would absolutely provide some unique progression for this airport.

Next, the runway operations. As was mentioned above as well, 17R/35L and 17L/35R are too close together to allow independent operations, so I’d envision they would function similarly to something like GRU, with the shorter, outer runway (17L/35R if you need a refresher) functioning for landings and the longer, inner runway (17R/35L) functioning for takeoffs. I’m not sure if 08/26 would be active in the game, but I personally don’t feel it would be.
(The “inner/outer” label refers to the runway’s position relative to the terminal, if you’re curious.)

And finally, something I should note is the weather. Reno receives some moderate snowfall during the winter, which has both a feature and challenge in this case: the feature is it allows for better visuals as the airport, the city, and the scenery around it all receive snow, but the challenge is that, of course, aircraft might need to be de-iced.
(There will also be some winter pictures in the media sources list below for reference.)

Optional: Links, images, maps, or videos
SOURCES:
RNO’s Wikipedia page
RNO’s runway details
Airliners.net Database of RNO photos
A video of RNO planespotting - and a 24/7 livestream of RNO planespotting

MEDIA SOURCES:
(Pictured below: A graph of RNO - do note this uses the former runway numbers)

(Pictured below: An overhead view of RNO)

(Pictured below: A few shots showing the nearby mountain range and city itself)

(Pictured below: How Reno looks with snow, because I couldn’t find good shots of the airport with snow unfortunately)

(Pictured below: The Air Traffic Control tower, with part of the airport and mountain range in the background)

(Pictured below: The current terminal and its concourses at the airport)

(Pictured below: Renders of the new terminal and infrastructure from the MoreRNO project)

(Pictured below: Examples of regular passenger traffic at the airport)

(Pictured below: Examples of regular cargo traffic at the airport)

(Pictured below: Examples of military traffic at the airport)

(Pictured below: RNO around the 2010s)

(Pictured below: RNO, around the 2000s)

(Pictured below: RNO, before the 21st century)

(Pictured below: Bonus pictures)

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Upon looking around some more, this airport actually has seen quite a few additional interesting airlines and liveries that could be implemented with it, even if some of which I already talked about (see the Notable historical routes/airlines tab above, if you haven’t already)

Nonetheless though, here’s what I was able to find for airlines/liveries:

Regular Airlines

Now, to start, I’m aware I’ve talked a bit about it above, but Aha! / ExpressJet would be great to see with this airport - Aha! especially, which of course was based at Reno itself, and could work as a great addition for a local, though of course ExpressJet could also be mixed in, being the parent company of Aha!

Now, this next airline might not be exactly Nevada themed or based, but I feel it’s a bit underrated nonetheless - this being California Pacific Airlines.

This airline served Reno for a very short period of time from around November 2018 to January 2019, the former and latter date being when the airline started… and ceased operations, respectively. No media seems to exist of them at the airport, unfortunately. Still though, it’d be great to see, hopefully as a regular map contractor. Might suggest this airline at some point, actually.

This next one might be a bit of a stretch, but Ameriflight for this airport would also be pretty nice and a unique airline to see, given there’s a few bits of media here and there of them serving the airport:

I went back to a far earlier revision dated around March 2015 on RNO’s Wikipedia page, and found they had quite the network at RNO as well:

To be fair, however, Ameriflight does have a lot of small cargo aircraft types that we don’t have in-game yet, besides the Saab 340 (in which they have 4 of currently, according to Wikipedia). Either way though, this airport does have quite a bit of small, general aviation traffic, so something like Ameriflight isn’t too farfetched, I’d imagine - at least if we get small cargo aircraft in the game at some point in the future.

Historical Airlines

Now, historical airlines. I’ve already covered quite a few above, such as Sunworld and Reno Air. And don’t get me wrong, those still do stand as potential options for RNO, if it’s ever selected to be added. However, there’s still a few other historical airlines that I feel could also work as options:

First, Aloha Airlines, who did get a brief shot, but figured I’d bring some attention to it regardless once more.

From what I was able to find media-wise, this service to Reno was done using only 737-700s, with the 737-200s I’d guess being too short on range (and I think even the -700s were a bit short on range too, having to make a stop at SNA before/after RNO) and they had only one 737-800 which was used primarily to routes from Kahului to Sacramento (my beloved).
Honestly, I’m a bit surprised this airline hasn’t been suggested yet… maybe I’ll suggest this later too.

Next, America West. This also got a shot above yet figured I’d bring some attention to it as well.

Service to RNO from America West was, from what I saw, used by types such as the 737-300s, A319s, and finally A320s. This service was continued for decades from all the way back in 1986 (with the addition of “Nite Flites” from Las Vegas), to the airline’s final day, and I believe the route was continued on when the airline was merged into US Airways - whom I think would also make for a good potential special, maybe in the America West heritage colors, such as that one above in the Bonus section or this one:

There were really quite a lot of historical airlines that served Reno that I was thinking of mentioning (such as AirCal), but I decided to limit the list to ones I really felt could fit the airport. And again, the post’s list of historic airlines do also still stand as options…

Special/Historical Liveries

As for liveries, there’s quite a few I think could really work at this airport, starting with one I think is rather obvious… American’s Reno Air heritage livery.

Virtually no shots or media of this livery at RNO exist, which I think is almost criminal.
Jokes aside though, this would be amazing to see if this airport ever comes to be, because I have a feeling that if it is chosen in the future, the 737s would have been implemented/remodeled by then - and I’m sure we can agree those models are going to be amazing.

Next, and on the topic of 737s, Southwest’s Nevada One livery, specifically the variant on the 737-700.

There’s actually been quite a lot of media of Southwest’s state liveries at RNO, such as Arizona One, California One, Maryland One, etc… but of course, I feel as if this fits the best.
Do note that there’s really two Nevada One liveries, with the aircraft above (N727SW) having been retired in 2022 and broken up in 2023, but only N727 was documented at RNO with photos - and a few extra times at that:

So, if it came down to it, I’d much rather have N727 represented over the current Nevada One, honestly. Though, no shame to it, it’s simply that the first Nevada One has been documented more as a visitor of RNO.

On a similar note, US Airways (linked above in the Historical Airlines tab) actually even had its own Nevada-based livery on one of its aircraft once:

This also would be amazing to see with the airport - and yes, this livery did indeed visit RNO, the shot above was taken there, even if you can’t really tell in that shot.

Anyways though, when it comes to this airport, there were - and still are - a decent number of special liveries running around, mostly from the likes of Southwest as you could probably guess, though there were also some on behalf of other airlines such as JetBlue and Alaska (including Horizon), and even some historic airlines such as US Airways as well… though I of course wanted to include and bring the spotlight what I believe would be the most fitting for this airport.

[Tanman]

I would LOVE to get Reno in the future, it’s a great airport. I have no clue how they would do this, but it would be beyond awesome if they could somehow incorporate aspects of the nearby Reno-Stead Airport, where they used to host the National Championship Air Races, which was, in my opinion, one of the best aviation events to ever take place, up there with EAA OshKosh and RIAT.

[Hirohitoswaifu]

In regards to a special livery, could also go with the Nevada America West Special livery,

As something a little larger could be cool to see as a special.