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.

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-Boston Regional Airport MHT

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 to the south.

Certified for Cat III B operations, 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.

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,[citation needed] 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.[3]

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.

Airport access

Manchester Shuttle

The Manchester-Boston Regional Airport operates a high-frequency shuttle bus program. The bus runs 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 operates along the same route in reverse. The shuttle is offered free of charge to ticketed airline passengers. The shuttle was originally started on November 13, 2006 for a six month trial period.[4]

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. Prior to this project, access to the airport was limited to local roads. Completion is scheduled for late 2010.

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.