Quonset State Airport | |||||||||||||||
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| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Rhode Island Airport Corp. | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | North Kingstown, Rhode Island | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 18 ft / 5 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°35′50″N 071°24′44″W / 41.59722°N 71.41222°W | ||||||||||||||
| Website | flyquonsetairport | ||||||||||||||
| Maps | |||||||||||||||
 FAA airport diagram as of January 2021 | |||||||||||||||
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Quonset State Airport (IATA: NCO, ICAO: KOQU, FAA LID: OQU) is a joint civil-military public airport located on Quonset Point, in northeastern North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, adjacent to Narragansett Bay. It is a general aviation airport and there is no scheduled airline service available. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027, in which it is categorized as a regional reliever facility.[2]
It was the site of the Naval Air Station Quonset Point from 1941 until the early 1970s, when the military presence in Rhode Island was drastically scaled down. Despite the Navy's departure, the airport remains the home of Quonset Point Air National Guard Station and the 143d Airlift Wing (143 AW) of the Rhode Island Air National Guard, flying the C-130J Hercules. The Rhode Island Army National Guard also maintains an Army Aviation Support Facility adjacent to the Air National Guard Station for the 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, flying the UH-60 Blackhawk.
Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, Quonset State Airport is assigned OQU by the FAA but is designated NCO by the IATA.[3]
Quonset State Airport is one of six active airports operated by the Rhode Island Airports Corporation. The other five airports include T.F. Green State Airport, North Central State Airport, Westerly State Airport, Newport State Airport, and Block Island State Airport.
In the early 1980s Providence Airline Corp had daily flights leaving Quonset to Boston, Massachusetts; Hartford County, Connecticut; Syracuse, New York; Buffalo, New York; Chicago, Illinois; and Romulus, Michigan.[citation needed]
On May 19, 2021, Air Force One carrying President Joe Biden landed at Quonset State Airport where he was greeted by Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee as well as Col. Adam Wiggins, the 143rd Airlift Wing Commander and other officials. He then continued on Marine One to the Coast Guard Academy in New London and returned later in the day to depart on Air Force One.[4][5]
- ^ FAA Airport Form 5010 for OQU PDF, effective 2023-07-13
- ^ "NPIAS Report 2023-2027 Appendix A" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. October 6, 2022. p. 106. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
- ^ http://www.iata.org/publications/Pages/code-search.aspx) Archived 2019-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Anderson, Patrick. "President Joe Biden lands in RI on way to address U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduation". The Providence Journal. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
- ^ "Biden returns to Washington after Coast Guard speech, brief stops in RI". WPRI.com. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-06-02.