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New Bedford Regional Airport (KEWB) is a Part 139 commercial-service field in Bristol County, Massachusetts, three nautical miles northwest of New Bedford city centre. Operated by the City of New Bedford, it combines scheduled island-hopping services with a busy general aviation and flight-training scene, all within its own Class D airspace and under a control tower. Its wartime origins as an Army and later Navy air field, followed by decades of airline service, give it a layered history of interest to visiting pilots.
New Bedford Regional Airport is a municipally-owned, Part 139 certificated commercial-service airport serving New Bedford and the wider South Coast region of Massachusetts. It supports scheduled passenger flights to the Massachusetts islands and New York, alongside a substantial general aviation and flight-training presence, making it a practical and interesting destination for a visiting simulator pilot flying VFR or IFR into southeastern Massachusetts.
The airport lies within Class D airspace and is served by an operating FAA control tower. It sits about three nautical miles northwest of New Bedford's city centre in Bristol County, Massachusetts, with the Acushnet Cedar Swamp bordering the field to the north. Approach and departure control for the area is provided by Providence Approach/Departure.
New Bedford Regional Airport has two paved, lit physical runways. Runway 05/23 is the longer of the pair, with runway 05 measuring 5,387 ft and runway 23 measuring 4,987 ft; runway 05 is equipped with an ILS. Runway 14/32 comprises runway 14 at 4,982 ft and runway 32 at 4,983 ft. Both runways have hard surfaces and are lit for night operations.
Providence Approach/Departure is available on 128.7 MHz for arriving and departing traffic. The airport's ATIS broadcasts on 126.85 MHz. Tower and the common traffic advisory frequency both operate on 118.1 MHz, with Ground on 121.9 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Runway 05 offers an ILS approach for instrument arrivals.
The control tower operates between 0600 and 2300 local time; outside these hours, 118.1 MHz serves as the CTAF for self-announced traffic. No specific noise abatement procedures have been published by the airport manager, so pilots should follow standard Class D arrival and departure procedures and monitor the appropriate frequencies for tower instructions.
The Acushnet Cedar Swamp, which borders the airport to the north, is a useful visual landmark when approaching from that direction. The field's position roughly three nautical miles northwest of downtown New Bedford also makes the city itself a helpful reference point for orientation on approach.
New Bedford Regional Airport was built between 1940 and 1942 as a commercial airport but was quickly pressed into wartime service, becoming New Bedford Army Air Field under the United States Army Air Forces for the remainder of the Second World War. In April 1944 the Navy assumed control, operating it as a training post and naval auxiliary air facility (NAAF New Bedford) supporting Naval Air Station Quonset Point in Rhode Island, and at times overseeing the outlying landing fields at Plymouth and Westfield. After the war the airport reverted to civilian use and was progressively upgraded with runway lighting and approach guidance systems, receiving Part 139 certification in the summer of 2017, which allowed it to handle larger passenger aircraft. The airport enjoyed decades of scheduled airline service: Northeast Airlines flew Douglas DC-3s, Fairchild Hiller FH-227 turboprops and eventually McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets on routes to New York LaGuardia and Boston through the 1950s and 1960s until its 1972 merger into Delta Air Lines. Delta continued FH-227 service into the mid-1970s, after which Air New England operated up to fourteen daily flights to New York, Boston, Hyannis and Martha's Vineyard using Beechcraft 99s, DHC-6 Twin Otters, FH-227s and DC-3s. Nor-East Commuter Airlines also served Martha's Vineyard with Piper Navajos in the late 1970s. Provincetown-Boston Airlines (PBA) became the principal carrier through the 1980s, operating Embraer Bandeirantes to LaGuardia before ceasing New Bedford flights in 1989. In December 2017, Elite Airways briefly offered service to Vero Beach, Florida, using Bombardier CRJ aircraft, though this was suspended due to a pilot shortage and limited fleet availability.
Cape Air is the primary scheduled carrier at New Bedford Regional Airport today, operating flights to Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and New York's JFK Airport. The field also supports a significant general aviation community served by three fixed-base operators: NorEast Aviation Services, Sandpiper Air and Colonial Air. The airport is home to the Bridgewater State University Aviation Training Center, a large collegiate aviation training programme, reflecting the field's active flight-training role alongside its passenger and general aviation traffic. U.S. Customs and Border Protection services are available at the airport by request.
