Airport type Public Location Wainscott, New York 10/28 4,255 Code HTO Phone +1 631-537-1130 | Serves East Hampton, New York Elevation AMSL 55 ft / 17 m 4,255 1,297 Elevation 17 m Owner/operator East Hampton | |
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Address 200 Daniels Hole Road, Wainscott, NY 11975, USA | ||
East hampton airport approach
East Hampton Airport (IATA: HTO, ICAO: KHTO, FAA LID: HTO) is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) west of East Hampton, a village in the Town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York, United States. The airport is owned and operated by the Town of East Hampton and located in the town's hamlet of Wainscott. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.
Contents
- East hampton airport approach
- East hampton airport helicopter landing
- Facilities and aircraft
- Air service
- Non residential use controversy
- Other uses
- References
As of July 2014 there is continuing debate about airport use by nonresidents arriving by helicopters, larger private jets, and seaplanes to visit the Hamptons, and in particular, the rotary wing traffic; residents around the airport and in general have complained about noise, the money spent on the airport, and on implications of acceptance of federal funds on local control over traffic. Debates include the repair of runways and fencing, with opponents in favor of unrestricted use promoting federal funding and those favoring restricted use and sound abatement arguing for user fees and that maintain local control; tensions have risen sufficiently that local elections have been determined over politician's views on the issues.
East hampton airport helicopter landing
Facilities and aircraft
East Hampton Airport covers an area of 570 acres (231 ha) at an elevation of 55 feet (17 m) above mean sea level. It has two active runways with asphalt surfaces: 10/28 is 4,255 by 100 feet (1,297 x 30 m) and 16/34 is 2,060 by 75 feet (628 x 23 m).
For the 12-month period ending September 21, 2007, the airport had 31,612 aircraft operations, an average of 86 per day: 52% general aviation, 47.8% air taxi, and 0.2% military. At that time there were 89 aircraft based at this airport: 84.3% single-engine, 5.6% multi-engine, 5.6% jet, and 4.5% helicopter.
Air service
{{airport-dest-list Fly the Whale, New York | Tailwind Air Service | New York, NY | Tropic Ocean Airways | Seasonal: New York Seaplane Base | StndAIR (Shoreline Aviation) | Seasonal: New York Seaplane Base }}
HeliFlite founded in 1998, offers on-demand charter service, helicopter management, fractional ownership and a 25-hour HeliCard™ product; it operates a fleet of twin engine & dual piloted Bell 430 and Sikorsky S76 executive class helicopters.
Trump Air provided regularly scheduled helicopter service in the late 1980s and early 1990s; the last scheduled fixed wing airline was East Hampton Airlines, which now offers chartered service.
Cape Air considered launching service to East Hampton Airport Summer 2012 from Westchester County Airport or Boston Logan Airport; However, they have no regular service to East Hampton Airport as of July 2014.
Non-residential use controversy
There is an historic and continuing controversy centered on non-residential use that peaks in summer months, and generates issues related to noise and traffic, where noise issue from helicopters is particularly acute. In the summer of 2007 US Helicopter announced plans for scheduled service between the airport and the East 34th Street Heliport in New York City (departing the city on Friday afternoons and returning on Sunday evenings, with a roundtrip ticket cost of ~$1,600. In response United States Senator Charles Schumer introduced legislation in July 2007 requiring the Federal Aviation Agency "to study helicopter traffic over Long Island, and report within 90 days on ways to reduce noise and divert the flight paths from homes." The New York Times noted that East Hampton Airport is the most popular destination for helicopters from New York City and that there were 2,400 helicopter arrivals and departures from January to June 2007. James L. Brundige, the airport’s manager at that time, said helicopter flights had doubled in the past decade.
With the advent of smartphone applications allowing helicopter and other flights to be arranged in manner akin to automotive ride-sharing, the issues related to helicopter traffic have risen, leading to town meetings and competing political efforts and tensions. Helicopter traffic at the airport during the summer of 2014 is reported to have increased by approximately 40% over that of the preceding year, pitting "the very affluent" (town residents) against "the exceptionally rich" (seasonal non-residents visiting via helicopter).
Other uses
Marine One was based at the airport for one week in August 1998 and 1999 during week-long visits by Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton to the Georgica Pond home of director Steven Spielberg. Clinton conducted a fundraiser in a hangar at the airport in 1999.
The PBS children's television show It's a Big Big World produced by Mitchell Kriegman is produced at Wainscott Studios which is the industrial park associated with the airport.