Manchester-Boston Regional Airport

Coordinates: 42°55′57″N 071°26′08″W / 42.9325°N 71.43556°W / 42.9325; -71.43556

Manchester • Boston Regional Airport
Airphoto taken 11 April 1998
IATA: MHT – ICAO: KMHT – FAA: MHT
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		City of Manchester
Serves		Manchester, New Hampshire
Elevation AMSL		266 ft / 81 m
Website		www.FlyManchester.com
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
17/35	9,250	2,819	Asphalt
6/24	7,150	2,179	Asphalt
Statistics (2007)
Aircraft operations			93,138
Based aircraft			100
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (IATA: MHT, ICAO: KMHT, FAA LID: MHT), commonly referred to simply as "Manchester Airport," is a public airport located three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Manchester, New Hampshire^[1] on the county line of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties. The airport lies in two communities, Manchester and Londonderry.

Founded in 1927, it first moved more than 1 million passengers in a year in 1997. It handled 3,896,532 passengers in 2006, down 10.1% from 2005.

The facility was known as Manchester Airport until April 18, 2006, when it added "Boston Regional" to advertise its proximity to Boston, Massachusetts, about 50 miles (80 km) to the south.

Certified for Cat III B Instrument Landing operations, the airport has a reputation for never surrendering to bad weather. The airport closed only once, when the national airspace was shut down for two days following September 11, 2001.^[2]

Contents 1 Use 2 Facilities and aircraft 3 History 3.1 Expansion 4 Airlines and destinations 5 Air cargo operators 6 Airport access 6.1 Manchester Shuttle 6.2 Local bus service 6.3 Highway access 6.4 MBTA Commuter Rail 7 Law enforcement/security 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

Use

For passenger service, the airport is the fourth-largest in New England, after Logan International Airport in Boston, Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Suffield and East Granby, Connecticut, and T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island. Municipalities within the Boston Metropolitan Area in partnership with their state governments in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, decided to make this airport and T. F. Green Airport alternatives to Logan International Airport in order to avoid having to build a new airport.

Manchester Airport is the third-largest cargo airport in New England. Only Boston's Logan Airport and Bradley International exceed Manchester in terms of cargo handled. In 2005, the airport processed 150 million pounds of freight. Most of this was carried aboard aircraft flown by FedEx, UPS, and DHL. All three serve Manchester Airport with large, cargo-specific jets, including the Airbus A300, DC-10, and MD-11 by FedEx and UPS.

UPS uses Manchester to 'feed' the rest of northern New England by contracting with Wiggins Airways,^[3] which flies smaller prop-driven planes to places like Portland, Augusta, Bangor, Presque Isle, Rutland and other communities. To handle this 'regional sort,' UPS built a sorting facility where packages coming in from the company's Louisville hub are redistributed to trucks or to the Wiggins feeder aircraft. FedEx previously used Manchester as a regional sorting station as well, but now supports the northern New England destinations via direct flights from Memphis to Portland, Maine and Burlington, Vermont. A contract with the U.S. Postal Service fills the FedEx jets (coming from hubs in Memphis and Indianapolis) with mail in addition to the typical assortment of express and overnight packages. DHL, the smallest of the dedicated freight carriers at Manchester, flies a single daily 727-200 on a Wilmington-Allentown-Manchester-Wilmington routing.

Facilities and aircraft

Manchester Airport covers an area of 1,500 acres (607 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 17/35 measuring 9,250 x 150 ft (2,819 x 46 m) and 6/24 measuring 7,150 x 150 ft (2,179 x 46 m).^[1]

For the 12-month period ending January 31, 2007, the airport had 93,138 aircraft operations, an average of 255 per day: 41% scheduled commercial, 31% air taxi, 27% general aviation and 1% military. There are 100 aircraft based at this airport: 75% single engine, 15% multi-engine and 10% jet aircraft.^[1]

History

The Manchester airport was founded in June 1927, when the city's Board of Mayor and Aldermen put $15,000 towards the project. By October, a board of aviation had been founded and ground was broken at an 84-acre (34 ha) site near Pine Island Pond. It took only a month for two 1,800-foot (550 m) runways to be constructed. After the formation of Northeast Airways at the site in 1933, the first passenger terminal was built.

The current Manchester airport began to take shape as a joint civili-military facility in the 1960s. In 1961, an $850,000 terminal opened. In 1966, the Air Force removed its remaining forces and closed Grenier AFB, leaving the airport open for expansion.

In 1978 the airfield was renamed Manchester Airport.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the airport was served by Northeast Airlines with the DC-6, DC-9, and FH-227. Delta Air Lines absorbed Northeast in 1972 and continued to serve the airport with the DC-9 until 1982 when it discontinued service at Manchester. In the mid 1980s, airlines once again started offering jet service out of Manchester. United Airlines inaugurated service at Manchester in 1984 with two daily flights to Chicago's O'Hare Airport. This was part of their 50 States campaign, which positioned United Airlines as the only carrier to serve all 50 states with mainline service. The Boeing 727 and Boeing 737 were initially used on the Chicago flights, which would often make intermediate stops in cities like Providence, Albany, Syracuse, or Burlington to pick up or drop off passengers. Manchester was also a 'tag-on' for United Airlines flights heading from Bangor and Portland, Maine to Chicago, but the carrier no longer serves either city with mainline aircraft.

In the early 1990s, United Airlines began flights between Manchester and Washington Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. But creation of a north-south hub at Dulles didn't work for United, and heavy competition in this market led to a quick exit. The Boeing 737 was used for this short-lived service, which comprised about four daily circuits between the two airports. US Airways started service at Manchester about a year after United Airlines did, by connecting their hubs at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The carrier used the DC-9 and BAC 111 aircraft. Both carriers expanded service at Manchester over the years with bigger planes and more flights. United Airlines now runs a strict nonstop schedule to and from Chicago with no intermediate stops or tag-ons. The Boeing 757 has been used by both United Airlines and US Airways at Manchester, which stands as the largest passenger-carrying plane to serve the airport in scheduled service. The Airbus A320 series of aircraft is also commonly used by United Airlines, Northwest Airlines, and (occasionally) by US Airways.

Expansion

In 1992, a long-term expansion and improvement plan started to take shape. Two years after beginning, a new 158,000-square foot terminal opened, providing ample room for larger jets. The airport continued to expand, opening a new parking garage and parking lots in the next years, as well as working to reconstruct the runways and taxiways. In 1998, these expansions paid off, with MetroJet, Northwest Airlines, and Southwest Airlines all beginning service. The airport has prospered from "the Southwest Effect", in which competing airlines increase service and decrease fares to compete with the low cost carrier. Throughout the 1990s, Manchester Airport outpaced almost every other similarly-sized airport in terms of passenger growth. In 2003, runway 17/35 was extended from 7,001 feet (2,134 m) to 9,250 feet (2,820 m), allowing non-stop service to Las Vegas.

In April 2006, the aldermen of the city of Manchester voted to change the name of the airport to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in an effort to increase its visibility to travelers around the country.^[4]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Air Canada operated by Air Georgian	Toronto-Pearson
Continental Connection operated by Colgan Air	Newark
Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines	Cleveland, Newark
Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines	Atlanta
Northwest Airlines	Detroit
Northwest Airlink operated by Mesaba Airlines	Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul [seasonal]
Southwest Airlines	Baltimore, Chicago-Midway, Las Vegas, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Tampa
United Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare [ends October 24]
United Express operated by Mesa Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Washington-Dulles
United Express operated by Trans States Airlines	Washington-Dulles
US Airways	Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington-Reagan
US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin	Philadelphia
US Airways Express operated by Colgan Air	New York-LaGuardia
US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines	Charlotte
US Airways Express operated by Piedmont Airlines	New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia
US Airways Express operated by Republic Airlines	Philadelphia, Washington-Reagan

Air cargo operators

• ABX Air
• FedEx Express
• UPS Airlines

Airport access

Manchester Shuttle

From November 13, 2006 to June 30, 2008, the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport operated a high-frequency shuttle bus program. The bus ran every two hours, 24 hours a day, between the airport, the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in Woburn, Massachusetts (45 minutes), and the Sullivan Square subway station in Boston (75 minutes). The shuttle bus also operated along the same route in reverse. The shuttle was offered free of charge to ticketed airline passengers.^[5] The free Manchester Shuttle to and from Woburn and Boston ceased operations when the shuttle pilot program was successful in attracting a private company to offer similar service.

Since July 1, 2008, the private company Flight Line Inc. offers hourly service between the airport, several points in northern Massachusetts and the city of Boston for $19 each way. Reservations are required.^[6]

Local bus service

The Manchester Transit Authority provides hourly bus service between the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport passenger terminal and downtown Manchester.

Highway access

In 2007, construction began on the Manchester Airport Access Road, an expressway connection from the F.E. Everett Turnpike. Before this project, access to the airport was limited to local roads. Completion is scheduled for late 2010.^[7][8]

MBTA Commuter Rail

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has proposed to extend the Lowell Line of its commuter rail system to Manchester, including Manchester Boston Regional Airport. However, this only remains a proposal, and no funds have yet been allocated for the project.

Law enforcement/security

The Londonderry Police Department is responsible for law enforcement and security operations at the airport terminal. The Rockingham County Sheriff's Department was responsible for law enforcement operations at the airport until last year when the Londonderry Police Department was awarded the new security contract.

See also

• New Hampshire World War II Army Airfields
• Eastern Air Defense Force (Air Defense Command)

References

External links

• Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (official site)
• FAA Airport Diagram(PDF), effective 4 June 2009
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KMHT
  • ASN accident history for MHT
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KMHT
  • FAA current MHT delay information