Airport type Public Serves Newport, Rhode Island Code NPT Phone +1 401-846-9400 | Owner State of Rhode Island Elevation AMSL 171 ft / 52 m Elevation 52 m | |
 | ||
Operator Rhode Island Airport Corp. Location Middletown, Rhode Island Address 211 Airport Access Rd, Middletown, RI 02842, USA | ||
Newport State Airport (IATA: NPT, ICAO: KUUU, FAA LID: UUU) is a state owned, public use airport in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. It serves the city of Newport and is located two nautical miles (4 km) northeast of its central business district. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility. There is no scheduled airline service available, but it once was served by Air New England.
Contents
Although many U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, this airport is assigned UUU by the FAA and NPT by the IATA (which assigned UUU to Manumu, Papua New Guinea).
Newport State Airport is one of six active airports operated by the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, the other five being T.F. Green State Airport, North Central State Airport, Westerly State Airport, Quonset State Airport, and Block Island State Airport.
History
At the turn of the 20th Century the site was home to Aquidneck Park, a horse racing track. Wealthy summer residents such as Willie K Vanderbilt, John Jacob Astor and I. Townsend Burden would occasionally race automobiles of various types there.
The airport site was acquired by the state in July 1960, and construction of the runways and taxiways was completed by September 1967. At least one runway was operational by July 1964, when the first aircraft accident at the Newport airport (a gear-up landing) was documented by the National Transportation Safety Board. The first fatal accident at Newport State Airport was a mid-air collision between two general aviation aircraft on April 23, 1969. In 2011 part of the film Moonrise Kingdom was filmed at the airport.
Facilities and aircraft
Newport State Airport covers an area of 221 acres (89 ha) at an elevation of 171 feet (52 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways with asphalt surfaces: 4/22 is 2,999 by 75 feet (914 x 23 m) and 16/34 is 2,623 by 75 feet (799 x 23 m).
For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2011, the airport had 20,238 aircraft operations, an average of 55 per day: 98% general aviation, 2% air taxi, and <1% military. At that time there were 34 aircraft based at this airport: 85% single-engine, 9% multi-engine, and 6% helicopter.