Ralph Wien Memorial Airport

Ralph Wien Memorial Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerAlaska DOT&PF - Northern Region
ServesKotzebue, Alaska
Elevation AMSL14 ft / 4 m
Coordinates66°53′05″N 162°35′55″W / 66.88472°N 162.59861°W / 66.88472; -162.59861
Map
OTZ
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
9/27 6,300 1,920 Asphalt
17/35 3,876 1,181 Gravel
Statistics (2014)
Aircraft operations60,000
Based aircraft43
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Ralph Wien Memorial Airport (IATA: OTZ, ICAO: PAOT, FAA LID: OTZ) is a state-owned public-use airport located on the south side of Kotzebue, a city on the Baldwin Peninsula in the Northwest Arctic Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska.[1]

Facilities and aircraft

Ralph Wien Memorial Airport covers an area of 1,480 acres (600 ha) which contains two runways. Runway 9/27 has an asphalt paved surface measuring 6,300 x 150 ft (1,920 x 46 m) and runway 18/36 has a gravel surface measuring 3,876 x 90 ft (1,181 x 27 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending April 11, 2008, the airport had 59,860 aircraft operations, an average of 164 per day: 62% general aviation, 33% air taxi, 3% scheduled commercial and 2% military. There are 52 aircraft based at this airport: 77% single engine and 23% multi-engine.[1]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Alaska Airlines Anchorage
Bering Air[2] Ambler, Buckland, Cape Lisburne, Deering, Kiana, Kivalina, Kobuk, Noatak, Nome, Noorvik, Point Hope, Selawik, Shungnak[3]

Statistics

Busiest Domestic Routes from OTZ (July 2024 – June 2025)[4]
Rank City Passengers Airline
1 Anchorage, Alaska 33,410 Alaska
2 Point Hope, Alaska 3,490 Bering
3 Selawik, Alaska 3,290 Bering
4 Buckland, Alaska 2,920 Bering
5 Noatak, Alaska 2,840 Bering
6 Noorvik, Alaska 2,720 Bering
7 Kivalina, Alaska 2,190 Bering
8 Kiana, Alaska 1,930 Bering
9 Ambler, Alaska 1,200 Bering
10 Shungnak, Alaska 1,160 Bering
Largest airlines at OME (July 2024 – June 2025)[4]
Carrier   Passengers (arriving and departing)
Bering Air
47,670(41.48%)
Alaska Airlines
37,000(32.20%)
Horizon Air
30,240(26.31%)

Ralph Wien, pilot

The airport is named in memory of Ralph Wien, a native of Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin, born in 1897. He and his younger brother Noel Wien, arrived in Alaska in 1924 and together founded Wien Air Alaska, the first airline in Alaska.[5][6] He died when the Bellanca aircraft he was flying crashed in full view of onlookers in Kotzebue on Columbus Day, 1930. Fr. Philip Delon, Superior general of Alaskan Catholic missions, and Fr. William Walsh, a diocesan priest from Oakland, California, who were on board, also died in the accident.[5][6][7]

The airport was dedicated in 1951 by Governor Ernest Gruening.[7]: 340 

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Form 5010 for OTZ PDF, effective 2007-07-05
  2. ^ Bering Air Kotzebue Schedule Retrieved Sep 10, 2022.
  3. ^ Bering Air Kotzebue Schedule Retrieved Sep 10, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Kotzebue, AK: Ralph Wien Memorial (OTZ) (OTZ)". Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Dickson Jr., Roy; McLaren, Dorothy D. "Biographies (W-Y) of 1920s-1930s Era Alaska Bush Pilots". Roy Dickson 1930s Alaska Bush Pilot. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  6. ^ a b Llorente, Segundo (1990) [1988]. Memoirs of an Alaskan Priest (PDF). Washington, D.C.: New Directions Publishing & Georgetown University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-87840-494-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  7. ^ a b Harkey, Ira (1991). Pioneer Bush Pilot. Bantam Books. pp. 291–293. ISBN 0553289195.
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