Nantucket Memorial Airport

Overview

Nantucket Memorial Airport covers an area of 1,200 acres (490 ha) which contains three runways:

For the 12-month period ending April 30, 2006, the airport had 163,810 aircraft operations, an average of 448 per day: 74% air taxi, 26% general aviation, <1% scheduled commercial and military. In 2006, there were 33 aircraft based at this airport: 48% single engine, 48% multi-engine and 2% helicopters. However, these numbers are older and the newer statistics are probably much higher, as corporate air travel to and from the island has increased over the years.

History

In the late 1930s, a man named Holm began allowing the Town of Nantucket to use fields on his property as an airfield. Holm's farmhouse, located at the intersection of Old South and Nobadeer Farm Roads, is still standing today, although airport buildings have been built around the farmhouse.

During World War II, the U.S. Navy took control of the airport and operated it as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Nantucket. The Navy constructed temporary bunkers and buildings, of which the buildings were torn down after the war. The bunkers, which were constructed using concrete and steel, are currently used for airport storage.

Terminal and facilities

In 2009, the terminal was updated with an upgrade of the previous 12,000 square feet (1,100 m²) and an expansion of 18,000 square feet (1,700 m²) at a cost of approximately $29 million. A major goal of the expansion was to increase the capacity of the terminal substantially over the original 1950s facility. Another goal was to segregate air-taxi passengers, who do not require security screening, from airline passengers, who do.

The airport apron for commercial aircraft has eight parking stands for Cessna 402 aircraft mainly operated by Cape Air and Nantucket Airlines. There are also four larger parking stands for the JetBlue E190, American Airlines CRJ-200/CRJ-700 Delta CRJ-200 and United Dash 8 Q-200 aircraft. More stands are available if needed. Most of the parking is reserved for general aviation aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

Up through the 1990s, a variety of other carriers served the airport, some of which used jet airliners as large as McDonnell Douglas DC-9s. These included such major carriers as American Airlines and Continental Airlines. Business Express, a Delta Air Lines' Connection air carrier, also operated seasonal jet flights into Nantucket utilizing British Aerospace BAe 146-200 aircraft. Up until 1989, Provincetown-Boston Airlines served Nantucket, using Douglas DC-3 aircraft. The airport is currently home to a variety of general aviation aircraft, ranging from Piper J-3 Cubs to Boeing Business Jets in the summer months. Former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden visited the island for seven thanksgivings during his eight year term, bringing with him his Boeing 757 Air Force Two transport. This is currently the largest aircraft ever to land and takeoff from Nantucket.