MANCHESTER-BOSTON REGIONAL AIRPORT

'Manchester-Boston Regional Airport' is a public airport located three miles (5 km) south of central Manchester, New Hampshire on the county line of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties. The airport lies in two communities, Manchester and Londonderry. It handled 3,896,532 passengers in 2006, down 10.1% from 2005, but that figure still represents a large increase over the previous decade, as it never handled as many as 1 million passengers before 1997.
The facility was known as 'Manchester Airport' until it added the name of Boston, Massachusetts, some 45 miles distant, on April 18, 2006, as a way to draw attention to its proximity to the much larger Boston market.
Certified for Cat III C zero-zero operation, the airport has a reputation for never surrendering to bad weather. The only time it has ever been closed was when the national airspace was closed for two days following September 11, 2001. ^[1]

Contents

History

Post-war expansion

Expansion

Facilities

Airlines and destinations

Air cargo operators

Law enforcement/security

External links

Notes

History

The 'Manchester airport' was founded in June 1927, when the town'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 site near Pine Island Pond. It took only a month for two 1,800-foot runways to be constructed. After the formation of Northeast Airways at the site in 1933, the first passenger terminal was built.
By World War II, the airport had more infrastructure, and became the home for up to 6,000 troops and an anti-submarine warfare squadron. After the war, the airfield was renamed 'Grenier Field' by the War Department in memory of a pilot and Manchester native who died some ten years earlier in an air crash.

Post-war expansion

The current Manchester airport began to take shape after the 1960s. In 1961, an $850,000 terminal opened. In 1966, the military removed its remaining forces, leaving the airport open for expansion. Twelve years after the departure of the army, the airfield was once again 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 7001 feet to 9,250 feet, allowing non-stop service to Las Vegas.
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 Aviation, 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.
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.^[2]
A high-frequency shuttle bus pilot program, offered free of charge to ticketed airline passengers, began on November 13, 2006. The bus runs every two hours, 24 hours a day, between the airport, the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in Woburn, Massachusetts, and the Sullivan Square subway station in Boston. The service will operate for a six-month period, after which it will be evaluated by the airport.^[3]
In 2007, construction began on the Manchester Airport Access Road, an expressway connection from the F.E. Everett Turnpike. Prior to this project, access to the airport was limited to local roads. Completion is scheduled for late 2010. Manchester NH Airport Access Rd under way Tollroads News First phases of airport access road under way Jim Kozubek, New Hampshire Union Leader

Facilities

Manchester Airport covers 1,500 acres (6 km²) and has two runways:

★ Runway 17/35: 9,250 x 150 ft. (2,819 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt

★ Runway 6/24: 7,150 x 150 ft. (2,179 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt

Airlines and destinations

★ Air Canada

★
★ Air Canada operated by Air Georgian (Toronto-Pearson)

★ Continental Airlines

★
★ Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines (Cleveland, Newark)

★ Delta Air Lines

★
★ Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Atlanta)

★
★ Delta Connection operated by Comair (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky)

★
★ Delta Connection operated by Freedom Airlines (New York-JFK)

★ Northwest Airlines (Detroit)

★
★ Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul)

★
★ Northwest Airlink operated by Compass Airlines (North America) (Minneapolis/St. Paul) (Effective 11/04/2007)

★ Southwest Airlines (Baltimore/Washington, Chicago-Midway, Las Vegas, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Tampa)

★ United Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare)

★
★ United Express operated by GoJet Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare) [seasonal]

★
★ United Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Washington-Dulles)

★ US Airways (Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington-Reagan)

★
★ US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin (Philadelphia, Washington-Reagan)

★
★ US Airways Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines (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)

★
★ US Airways Express operated by PSA Airlines (Charlotte) (Saturdays Only)

Air cargo operators

★ DHL

★ FedEx

★ United Parcel Service (UPS)

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.

External links

★ Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (official site)

★

Notes

1. pg 329-330 Manchester's Airport: Flying Through Time, Edward W. Browder, Jr. and Maurice B. Quirin ISBN 0-9721489-9-X
2. History of Manchester • Boston Regional Airport
3. Airport Announces Free Bus Service Between Woburn and Boston For Ticketed Passengers