Business View Magazine | February 2020

104 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2020 T he Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport is a public-use airport located three miles north of downtown Medford, a city in Jackson County, Oregon. Owned and operated by Jackson County’s Airport Authority, the Airport was originally named Medford– Jackson County Airport and was renamed Rogue Valley International–Medford Airport after it became an international airport in 1994. The Airport covers 905 acres at an elevation of 1,335 feet; its asphalt runway, 14/32, is 8,800 by 150 feet. In June 2018, the airport was reclassified by FAA from a Non-hub Airport to a Small Hub Airport designation; and by December of the same year, the Airport celebrated its first year of serving over one million commercial passengers, making it the third busiest airport in Oregon, after Portland International and Eugene Airports. The first airport in the Medford area traces its roots back to 1922, when the City of Medford and Jackson County purchased an area known as Newell Barber field at the south end of town for the U.S. Forest Service to use as a port of landing. Its gravel runway was approximately 1,500 feet in length and 25 feet in width. The Pacific Air Transport Company, founded in 1926, was given a four-year-lease for one dollar, and won the air mail contract for the route between Los Angeles and Seattle. The Standard Oil Company was also given an exclusive lease for the sale of gasoline and oil. The Medford Municipal Airport began AT A GLANCE THE ROGUE VALLEY INTERNATIONAL- MEDFORD AIRPORT WHAT: A public-use airport WHERE: Jackson County, Oregon WEBSITE: www.jacksoncountyor.org/airport PORT