After the Marines took control of the island 300 men from the 48th U.S.Naval Construction Battalion made the airfield operational during Sept-Oct 1945 and extended to 5,000 feet (1,500 m).

[4][5] Rota International Airport covers an area of 800 acres (324 ha) which contains one paved runway (9/27) measuring 6,000 x 150 ft (1,829 x 46 m).

[1] For a twelve-month period ending March 31, 2006, the airport had 6,550 aircraft operations, an average of 17 per day: 94% air taxi, 4% general aviation and 2% military.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began its Rota operations in March 2006.

At one time Rota had at least three airlines operating flights to it including Cape Air, Star Marianas, and Arctic Circle, with aircraft such as the 30 passenger ATR 42 flying routes.