About CRAA:
The Columbus Regional Airport Authority oversees the operations of Port Columbus, Rickenbacker and Bolton Field airports to deliver high-quality, cost-effective and coordinated aviation and logistics services for Central Ohio. For more information, visit www.ColumbusAirports.com

About LCK Today:
Rickenbacker is an international multi-modal cargo airport, a charter passenger terminal, a U.S. Foreign-Trade Zone, a distribution hub and a major component and economic engine of the Central Ohio region, servicing customer needs around the world.

Rickenbacker is also a high-speed international logistics hub with a strategically planned cargo complex that serves several key business segments, including international airfreight, freight forwarding, corporate aviation, e-commerce fulfillment and distribution.

Rickenbacker International Airport
7161 Second Street
Columbus, OH 43217

Rickenbacker History:
The international business center that Rickenbacker has become is the result of a strategic initiative launched to redevelop the former Rickenbacker Air Force Base into a private sector, international logistics center.

Rickenbacker's beginning dates back to 1941. On December 8, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Army announced that a $7.5 million airbase would be built just east of the Village of Lockbourne. Engineering and surveying work began the following month and the first tracts of land were purchased in April 1942. Also in April, Norfolk and Western Railroad began laying new mainline tracks along the western side of the base. Lockbourne Army Air Base opened in June 1942 as a glider and B-17 training facility. After the war, flight-training activities were halted and the base was used as a development and testing facility for all-weather military flight operations. The primary unit at the base was the all-Black 447th Composite Group, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. This unit merged with the 477th Composite Group in 1947, becoming the 332nd Fighter wing, one of the first all-Black flying units in the newly created United States Air Force. However, in June 1949, the 332nd was reassigned, the base was deactivated, and control transferred to the Ohio Air National Guard. For the next 18 months, the Air National Guard used the base for training.

Today Rickenbacker is an international multi-modal cargo airport, a charter passenger terminal, a U.S. Foreign-Trade Zone, a distribution hub and a major component and economic engine of the Central Ohio region, servicing customer needs around the world. For details on the history of this development, click here.