Ready to Travel? Book a Flight from Cedar Rapids, IA
The new and improved Eastern Iowa Airport offers nonstop flights to nearly two dozen destinations.
In 2023, Eastern Iowa Airport (CID) wrapped up a four-phase modernization project and continued to add more direct flights from Cedar Rapids – including two to Washington, D.C.
Eastern Iowa Airport Serves a Broad Region
“We serve about 1.3 million passengers annually, but about 3 million total people actually pass through our terminal each year when you add meeters-and-greeters to the equation,” says Marty Lenss, Eastern Iowa Airport director. “The airport’s total annual economic impact is more than $450 million, and CID accounts for about 5,000 support jobs throughout the region.”
Lenss says the airport serves Eastern Iowa as well as the border regions of Wisconsin and Illinois, and 38% of Iowa’s population is located within a 90-minute drive to CID.
“We broke ground in April 2023 on the final phase of our terminal upgrade, which involved a 30,000-square-foot addition highlighted by more jetways, more natural daylight and windows, improved concessions, a quiet room and upgraded restrooms,” he says. “Our overall modernization has been occurring for more than a decade, so we’re glad to be getting it all finished.”
Fly Anywhere
CID has nonstop flights to nearly two dozen major cities, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.
The Plane Truth
The City of Cedar Rapids owns Eastern Iowa Airport, which is served by carriers Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier and United. Also serving the airport are cargo carriers DHL Aviation, FedEx Express and UPS Airlines.
“An impressive statistic is that 50% of Iowa’s total cargo volume passes through CID,” Lenss says. “We are currently creating a large complex on one side of the airport so that all three carriers can be near each other.”
Besides the terminal modernization, other upgrades taking place at Eastern Iowa Airport include a new fixed-base operations facility that will open in late 2023. October 2023 saw the opening of a new fuel farm that allows the airport to store 300,000 gallons of fuel, up from 80,000 gallons.
Another recent upgrade occurred when UPS Airlines began leasing a new $10.2 million building that measures 40,000 square feet, eight times larger than the building that UPS previously used.
The airport worked with Kirkwood Community College to launch an aviation maintenance technician program, which officially started in fall 2023, Lenss says.
“Aviation tech jobs are high paying, and the student interest at KCC is certainly apparent,” he says. “The first class in September was completely full, and there was a waiting list for the January 2024 class.”
Get to Know Cedar Rapids
Want to learn more about living and working in Cedar Rapids, IA? Check out the latest edition of Livability Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
