Eppley Airfield , also known as Omaha Airport, is an airport in the midwestern United States, located northeast of downtown Omaha, Nebraska. On the west bank of the Missouri River in Douglas County, it is the busiest airport in Nebraska, with more arrivals and departures than all other airports in the state combined. It is classified as a medium hub airport by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It is owned and operated by the Omaha Airport Authority (OAA).

Location The airport is northeast of Downtown Omaha in East Omaha. Although the airport is in Nebraska on the west side of the Missouri River, it is surrounded on the east, west, north, and south by Iowa: the Missouri River formed an oxbow west of the land that became Eppley Airfield, later cutting off the oxbow during an 1877 flood and creating Carter Lake on a portion of its former course. In 1893, the Supreme Court ruled that though the lake and the surrounding land cut off by the Missouri River's changed route now lay west of the river, they remained part of Iowa. This land eventually became the city of Carter Lake, Iowa.Nebraska v. Iowa, 406 U.S. 117 (1972). Due to this quirk, people traveling to the airport from areas other than North Omaha pass through Carter Lake. This can confuse people from outside the area when they see "Welcome to Iowa" signs on the way to the airport.

History Eppley Airfield began as an extension of Levi Carter Park in 1925. That year, the City of Omaha acquired of cleared land on the east side of Carter Lake. Almost immediately, planes started landing and taking off there."A History of Omaha's Eppley Airfield", Adam Fletcher Sasse, NorthOmahaHistory.com. Retrieved December 16, 2022. A lawsuit was filed against the city in 1927 when a group wanted to build a hangar there. The lawsuit failed, and the land was called both the Omaha Municipal Airport and the American Legion Airport.Leslie R Valentine, "," Nebraska History 61 (1980): 400–420.

The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 42 scheduled airline departures per day, with 23 by United Airlines and 19 by Braniff International Airways. In 1960, the airport was named for Eugene C. Eppley, founder of the Eppley Hotel chain, whose estate gave the city a $1 million grant,Eppley Grant of $1 Million Gives Omaha Jet Field - Lincoln Evening Journal, December 31, 1959 matched by the federal government, to ready the then-Omaha Municipal Airport for jet aircraft."Municipal airport new name 'Eppley Airfield'," Omaha World-Herald, January 13, 1960 The first jets to land in Omaha were United Boeing 720s in August 1960.

The original terminal building opened in 1961 was designed by James C. Buckley, Inc. Concourse B opened in 1970, and was remodeled when Concourse A opened in 1986.

In 2024, Eppley Airfield set an all-time record with 5,277,326 passengers served.

Omaha Airport Authority

Created in 1959, the Omaha Airport Authority is governed by a five-member, appointed board and is responsible for sole jurisdiction and operation of Eppley Airfield.

Hubs and operations Midwest Airlines, then known as Midwest Express Airlines, operated a hub at Eppley Airfield from 1995 to 2002 with flights to Milwaukee, Newark, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Diego, and Washington, D.C.; the airport remained a focus city with nonstop flights to Milwaukee and Washington, D.C. until the airline merged with Frontier Airlines in 2009.

Over the course of 2024, Southwest Airlines, American, and Delta were the largest carriers and served 37.1, 20.6, and 17.5 percent of passengers, respectively.

The airport has an on-site U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility for international, charter, and private flights. Eppley's first commercial, international flight began May 1, 2018, when Air Canada Express launched a daily flight to Toronto Pearson International Airport; this service ended on October 4, 2019.

Facilities Eppley Airfield covers at an elevation of above sea level. The airfield has three runways: 14R/32L, 14L/32R, and 18/36. FAA data effective January 22, 2026.

Terminals The South Terminal, including Concourse A, includes gates A1 through A10, baggage claims 1 and 2, and serves Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Frontier Airlines. Gate assignments: Alaska Airlines (A9), American (A6-A8, A10), Delta (A2-A5), and Frontier (A1).

The North Terminal, including Concourse B, includes gates B11 through B19, baggage claims 5 and 6, and serves Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. Gate assignments: Southwest (B16-B19), and United (B11-B15). Gate B20 has been removed due to construction related to the airport's BuildOMA Terminal Modernization Project.

Ground transportation The airport is near four major highways: Interstate 80, Interstate 480, Interstate 680, and Interstate 29.

The airport has a consolidated rental car facility connected to the North Terminal.

Metro Transit Line 106 provides limited weekday-only rush-hour service southbound toward downtown and northbound toward the North Omaha Transit Center. Express Arrow intercity buses to Norfolk stop at the terminal. Passenger access is located directly outside the terminal.

Flight training

Eppley Airfield is home to the Nebraska Flight Center which was founded in 2003. The flight school operated at the North Omaha and Blair airports until the Nebraska Flight Center began operations at Eppley Airfield in 2014. Currently, the flight school is based at the Signature Flight Support building on the general aviation side of the airfield and has a partnership program with Iowa Western Community College.

Expansion

In January 2016, Eppley Airfield completed expansion of its CBP screening area to provide greater customs and inspection services for international passengers. Eppley Airfield is classified as a "Customs Landing Rights Airport" for international flights by CBP. Despite currently not having any international passenger flights scheduled, the airport handles international cargo, charter, and private flights.

Extensive upgrades are planned for Eppley Airfield to modernize the terminal, add gates and facilities, and improve the passenger experience. In January 2024, the Omaha Airport Authority announced plans for a $950 million expansion project, details of which included some upgrades which had been previously announced and on which construction is ongoing or soon to begin. New passenger drop-off lanes, a protective canopy over the passenger pick-up and drop-off area, and improved ADA-compliant accessibility modifications to this area were completed in August 2025; passenger pick-up and drop-off and lanes for buses, shuttles, and taxis will remain temporarily shifted to a portion of the first floor of the South parking garage to enable continuing construction on the new terminal entrance and central hall.

The southern Concourse A and northern Concourse B will be joined by a large 646,000-square-foot central hall with a consolidated passenger security screening area, nearly doubling the existing area of 375,000 square feet and eliminating the need for passengers to exit the secured area and be re-screened to move between concourses. The gates will be rearranged and two new gates added, for a total of twenty-two gates and the possibility of future expansion to the northwest. The baggage handling system will be modernized, space for boarding areas at each gate as well as the baggage claim area will be increased, and new retail options and concessions will be added both before and after security. Two gates will be initially devoted to international flights in a new CBP international arrivals hall.

By January 2026, the project had reached the halfway point, with the passenger pick-up and drop-off area and new central utility plant completed, and remodeling of the central hall, security checkpoints, baggage handling system, and existing concourse buildings continuing. Work expected in 2027 is the construction of a third skyway from the parking garage to the central part of the unified concourse, remodeling of the two existing skyways, and complete demolition and rebuilding of the former Concourse B building, allowing for the addition of more gates as capacity demands.

Airlines and destinations Passenger

Passenger destinations map

Cargo

Statistics Top destinations + Busiest domestic routes from OMA (January 2025 – December 2025) Rank City Passengers Carriers1 Denver, Colorado375,090 Frontier, Southwest, United2 Chicago, Illinois (O'Hare)241,920 American, United3 Phoenix, Arizona213,540 American, Southwest4 Atlanta, Georgia188,760 Delta5 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas184,090 American6 Chicago, Illinois (Midway)151,950 Southwest7 Las Vegas, Nevada132,270 Allegiant, Southwest8 Charlotte, North Carolina117,080 American9 St. Louis, Missouri101,960 Southwest10 Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota94,280 Delta

Airline market share

Annual traffic

+ Annual passenger traffic (enplaned and deplaned) at OMA, 2000–20252000s2010s2020s Year PassengersChange Year PassengersChange Year PassengersChange20003,814,4401.08%20104,287,4281.65%20202,140,01657.4%20013,653,5214.21%20114,212,3991.75%20213,749,33775.2% 20023,608,2311.23%20124,127,3442.02%20224,506,71320.2% 20033,667,1901.63% 20134,042,3332.06% 20235,026,63911.5% 20043,868,2175.48%20144,119,7301.91%20245,277,3265.0% 20054,193,0468.40%20154,169,4671.21% 20255,225,2321.0% 20064,229,8560.88%20164,349,4864.32% 20074,421,2744.53%20174,611,9066.03%20084,370,1371.16%20185,043,1949.35%20094,217,7183.49%20195,023,6680.39%

Accidents and incidents On December 6, 1978, a Douglas DC-6 operated by the Mexican Air Force, a military flight bound for San Antonio International Airport, suffered an engine fire on takeoff and crashed into a flood-control levee at the airport boundary half a mile north of Eppley, killing all seven occupants on board. The aircraft had been undergoing maintenance for three days and was reportedly leaking oil from one of its engines as it attempted to take off. On April 26, 2024, the airport was struck by an EF2 tornado as part of a wider outbreak in the region. Several general aviation hangars were destroyed, damaging or destroying approximately 30 airplanes. The airport briefly closed to assess the damage, but reopened shortly afterward.

See also List of airports in Nebraska Millard Airport

References

External links

Eppley Airport Guide on Omaha.net