Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport
airport in France
Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport (IATA: RNS, ICAO: LFRN) — also known as Rennes Bretagne Airport — is a minor international airport about 6 km (3.7 mi) southwest of Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, in the region of Brittany, France.
History
Before the construction of this airport, Rennes had a small hippodrome which was used as a landing strip in Gayeulles, to the northeast of the city. In 1931, work started on a proper airport to service Rennes, and a plot of 380,000 square metres in Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande to the southwest of the city was acquired and building began. On 28 July 1933, the new airport was officially opened by Pierre Cot.
Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the Battle of France, Rennes airport was used as a Luftwaffe military airfield during the occupation. Known units assigned (all from Luftflotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV):
Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53) – July – 23 August 1940 – Messerschmitt Bf 109E
Kampfgeschwader 27 (KG 27) – 27 July 1940 – April 1941 – Heinkel He 111P/H (Fuselage Code 1G+)
Kampfgeschwader 26 (KG 26) – 26 April – June 1942 – Heinkel He 111H (Fuselage Code 1H+)
Kampfgeschwader 77 (KG 77) – 30 May – 30 June 1942 – Junkers Ju 88A (Fuselage Code 3Z+)
Schnellkampfgeschwader 10 (SKG 10) – 10 April – 11 June 1943 – Focke-Wulf Fw 190A
Jagdgeschwader 11 (JG 11) – 7–20 June 1944 – Focke-Wulf Fw 190A
JG 53 and KG 27 took part in operations over England during the Battle of Britain (10 July–31 October 1940); KG 26 and KG 77 also engaged in night aerial attacks over England during 1942; JG 11 and SKG 10 were interceptor units primarily engaging Eighth Air Force heavy bomber (B-17; B-24) operations over Occupied Europe. In addition, numerous Luftwaffe Anti-Aircraft FLAK batteries were controlled from Rennes.
Rennes was attacked by Eighth Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers on 9 January 1944 (Mission 180), and was overflown on several night leaflet drops during the spring of 1944. The airport was also attacked during the Allied invasion of Normandy during June 1944 on several occasions by Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers of IX Bomber Command, 323d Bombardment Group. The medium bombers would attack in coordinated raids, usually in the mid-to-late afternoon, with Eighth Air Force heavy bombers returning from attacking their targets in Germany.
The public source identifies “Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport” as airport in France. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Rennes, Saint-Jacques and Airport.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport”, the useful work is to connect “airport in France” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1432593. VIAF identifies the subject as 143092248. Authority coordinates are 48.068, -1.726. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1931, 1933, 1940 and 1941.
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This entry incorporates text from “Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.