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Aerial view of Riverside Municipal Airport (KRAL): the terminal, the RAL compass rose on the ramp, parked airplanes and the runway

Riverside Municipal Airport (KRAL)

Riverside's city airport, four miles from downtown: what is on the field, how it got here, and what to do in Riverside once you land.

The airport at a glance

Riverside Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport owned by the City of Riverside. There are no airline flights. What it has instead is one of the busiest training fields in Southern California: about 144,000 takeoffs and landings a year, seven aviation schools and the busiest FAA contract tower in the state.

Much of that traffic is training. The weather allows flying nearly every day of the year, and the main runway is long with an instrument landing system, which is why so many pilots in the Inland Empire learn here.

Identifiers
KRAL (ICAO) · RAL (FAA and IATA)
Address
6951 Flight Road, Riverside, CA 92504
Where
About 4 miles southwest of downtown Riverside
Owner
City of Riverside, publicly owned
Elevation
819 feet
Size
525 acres
Runway 9/27
5,401 by 100 feet, asphalt
Runway 16/34
2,850 feet, asphalt
Tower
Class D, open 7 am to 8 pm local
Frequencies
Tower 121.0 · Ground 124.125 · ATIS 128.8
Approaches
ILS, GPS and VOR
Traffic
About 144,000 operations a year

A short history

The field was once called Riverside Arlington Airport, after the neighborhood around it, and for a few decades it had airline service of its own.

  1. 1920sRiverside's flying starts across the river at what is now Flabob Airport, founded in 1925 as the city's first civil airport.
  2. 1953The City of Riverside takes over the airport. It still owns and runs it today.
  3. 1956 to 1969Runway 9/27 is paved and Bonanza Air Lines arrives, later Air West, flying DC-3s and F-27s to LAX, Las Vegas and Palm Springs.
  4. 1970s to 2007Golden West Airlines flies Twin Otters to LAX. The last scheduled service, Western Express Air to Laughlin, ends in 2007.
  5. 2013FedEx donates a Boeing 727 freighter to California Baptist University. It stays on the field as an aviation science lab.
  6. TodayA general aviation airport with seven aviation schools, about 140 hangars and the busiest FAA contract tower in California.

Things to do in Riverside

Riverside is more than the airport. These are the places worth the trip, most of them within about half an hour of the field. Check each one's own site for hours before you go.

  1. 1.California Citrus State Historic Park

    About 250 acres of working orange groves and a museum of the industry that built Riverside, at Van Buren Boulevard and Dufferin Avenue. The closest big outing to the airport.

    Good for: A walk, a picnic, history·Visit site

  2. 2.The Mission Inn

    The landmark hotel downtown, with tours of its courtyards and art collection. From late November into the new year it hosts the Festival of Lights, millions of lights over the whole block.

    Good for: Tours, dinner, the holidays·Visit site

  3. 3.Mount Rubidoux

    A 1,331 foot hill on the edge of downtown with paved paths to the cross at the top and views across the whole valley. Most popular at sunrise and sunset.

    Good for: A morning hike, views·Visit site

  4. 4.March Field Air Museum

    On March Air Reserve Base, with an SR-71 Blackbird in the main hangar and more than a hundred aircraft from biplanes to jets. The one stop for anyone who came to Riverside because of airplanes.

    Good for: Aviation, a rainy day·Visit site

  5. 5.Flabob Airport

    Riverside's first airport, founded in 1925, across the Santa Ana River in Jurupa Valley. Home of EAA Chapter 1, the oldest chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association.

    Good for: Old hangars, homebuilts·Visit site

  6. 6.The Parent Navel Orange Tree

    One of the two trees every California navel orange descends from, planted in 1873 and still growing at Magnolia and Arlington Avenues. California Historical Landmark No. 20.

    Good for: A five minute stop·Visit site

  7. 7.Fairmount Park

    Lakes, pedal boats, rose gardens and a historic bandshell, just north of downtown.

    Good for: An easy afternoon·Visit site

  8. 8.UC Riverside Botanic Gardens

    39 acres of gardens and trails in the hills on the east side of the UCR campus.

    Good for: A quiet walk·Visit site

CFII's Tecnam P-Mentor training airplanes in our hangar at Riverside Municipal Airport

Learn to fly at Riverside

CFII flies out of Riverside Municipal. Our training fleet is factory-new Tecnam P-Mentors with glass cockpits, and every one carries a whole-airplane parachute. Students come from across the country to train here full time, from zero experience to flight instructor in about nine months.

Flying lessons in RiversideSee the Career TrackSee the airplanesStudent life in Riverside

Questions

Does Riverside Municipal Airport have airline flights?

No. Riverside is a general aviation airport with no scheduled airline service since 2007. For airline flights, the closest airport is Ontario International (ONT), with Los Angeles (LAX), John Wayne (SNA) and Palm Springs (PSP) further out.

What is the airport code for Riverside Municipal Airport?

KRAL is the ICAO code. RAL is the FAA identifier and the IATA code.

Where is Riverside Municipal Airport?

At 6951 Flight Road, Riverside, CA 92504, in the Arlington and La Sierra side of the city, about 4 miles southwest of downtown.

Is Riverside Airport the same as Flabob or March?

No. Riverside Municipal (KRAL) is the city's airport. Flabob Airport (KRIR) is a small privately owned field across the Santa Ana River in Jurupa Valley. March Air Reserve Base (KRIV) is a military base on the other side of town, and the March Field Air Museum sits at its edge.

Is the control tower open all the time?

No. The tower runs 7 am to 8 pm local time. Outside those hours the airport is uncontrolled and pilots announce themselves on 121.0.

Can I take flying lessons at Riverside Municipal Airport?

Yes. Several schools train on the field, CFII among them. We fly factory-new Tecnam P-Mentors from Riverside, every one with a whole-airplane parachute, and train students from zero experience to flight instructor.

Sources

Airport figures as published by the FAA and the City of Riverside, checked 2026-10-09. Frequencies and hours change: pilots should use the current Chart Supplement, not this page.

Come see the field.

Walk our hangar at Riverside Municipal, sit in a factory-new cockpit and meet the instructors. Bring whoever is part of the decision.

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