Departure
96%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Nantucket Memorial Airport sits on the south side of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, three miles southeast of the town centre, and is the busiest airfield on the island and the second-busiest in the state after Boston Logan. It offers a full instrument-approach environment with three paired runways, making it accessible to both general aviation and airline traffic serving the island year-round and in the busy summer season.
Nantucket Memorial Airport (KACK) is a public airport owned by the Town of Nantucket, serving the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. It supports a mix of general aviation, scheduled airline and seasonal corporate traffic, with Cape Air and Nantucket Airlines both operating from the field. For a visiting VFR or IFR pilot, it is a well-equipped island destination with an ILS-served main runway and a busy but manageable traffic pattern outside peak summer periods.
The airport lies on the south side of Nantucket Island, about three miles southeast of the town centre. It falls within Cape Approach's airspace, with the Bridgeport radio facility also listed among its navigation aids, reflecting its position off the Massachusetts coast within the wider New England air traffic environment.
Nantucket Memorial has three physical runways. Runway 06/24 is the longest, at 6,276 feet on the 24 threshold and 5,740 feet on the 06 threshold, hard-surfaced, lit, and served by an ILS. Runway 15/33 is 4,446 feet, hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 12/30 is 2,689 feet and hard-surfaced. Field elevation is 39 feet.
Cape Approach/Departure works arriving and departing traffic on 126.1 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 127.5 MHz, and clearance delivery is available on 119.375 MHz. The common traffic advisory frequency and tower frequency are both 118.3 MHz, with ground control on 121.7 MHz. A Bridgeport radio facility is listed on 116.2 MHz, and Unicom is on 122.95 MHz. The main runway, 06/24, is equipped with an ILS.
The airfield's origins lie in the late 1930s, when Nobadeer farmer Leslie Holm, working with former test pilot David Raub, ploughed and levelled cornfields to create a landing ground, from which the pair ran the Nobadeer Flying Service using three light aircraft for charter and instruction work. The Town of Nantucket was soon permitted to use the fields as an airport. Holm's farmhouse, at the junction of Old South and Nobadeer Farm Roads, still stands amid the later airport development. During the Second World War the US Navy took over the site as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Nantucket, building temporary bunkers and structures; the concrete and steel bunkers survive today and are used for airport storage. The airfield was handed back to the Town of Nantucket on 20 June 1946, and on 25 August 1946 it was formally dedicated as Nantucket Memorial Airport in honour of the eleven Nantucket men who died in the war and all islanders who served.
The airport remains in active use for both general aviation and scheduled air service, hosting based operators Cape Air and Nantucket Airlines alongside seasonal airline and charter operations that swell traffic considerably in the summer months. As of 2022 it had 18 based aircraft, 15 single-engine and 3 multi-engine, and recorded roughly 140 aircraft operations per day over a recent twelve-month period, split between air taxi, general aviation, commercial and a small proportion of military movements. The terminal and apron were substantially expanded in 2009 to handle both airline and general aviation traffic, with the busier commercial ramp on the airport's north side and general aviation parking elsewhere on the field.
