Rota International Airport

Rota International Airport

Rota International Airport, also known as Benjamin Taisacan Manglona International Airport, is a public airport located on Rota Island in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), near the village of Sinapalo. The airport is owned by the Commonwealth Ports Authority. During WWII the Japanese constructed a single runway which the U.S. bombed out of commission. After the Marines took control of the island, 300 men from the 48th U.S. Naval Construction Battalion made the airfield operational during September–October 1945 and extended the runway to 5,000 feet (1,500 m). The runway was then used as an emergency landing strip for Tinian and Saipan airfields. In modern times it is used for short commuter flights to the nearby Mariana Islands.