Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (KMHT) is New Hampshire's principal commercial and cargo gateway, lying some three miles south of downtown Manchester on the Hillsborough-Rockingham county line. It offers a long, ILS-equipped runway system well suited to a wide range of traffic, from regional jets and cargo widebodies to general aviation visitors, within Boston Approach's Class C airspace.
Manchester-Boston Regional Airport is the busiest airfield in New Hampshire and New England's sixth-largest by passenger volume, serving both scheduled airline traffic and a substantial cargo operation for FedEx, UPS and Amazon Air. It sits on the southern edge of the city of Manchester, spilling over the town line into Londonderry, and is owned and operated by the City of Manchester. For a visiting sim pilot it offers long hard-surfaced runways, full ILS coverage and an interesting mix of airline, cargo and general aviation movements, along with a strong wartime history as the former Grenier Field.
The airport lies under Class C airspace, with Boston Approach/Departure providing radar service below and above 4000 feet. It is located about three miles south of Manchester's central business district, on the border of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties, with the airport property extending south into the town of Londonderry. Boston's Logan Airport and its associated Class B airspace lie roughly 50 miles to the south.
Manchester-Boston has two physical runways. Runway 17/35 is the longer of the pair, with runway 17 measuring 8,903 feet and runway 35 measuring 8,376 feet; both ends are hard-surfaced, lit and served by an ILS. Runway 06/24 is shorter, with runway 24 measuring 7,516 feet and runway 06 measuring 7,064 feet; both ends are hard-surfaced and lit, with an ILS available on runway 06.
Boston Approach/Departure works arriving and departing traffic on 124.9 MHz below 4000 feet and on 134.75 MHz between 4000 and 10,000 feet. The airport's combined ATIS/ASOS broadcasts on 119.55 MHz. Clearance delivery is on 135.9 MHz, Ground on 121.9 MHz and Tower on 121.3 MHz, with UNICOM available on 122.95 MHz for general aviation use. A remote communications outlet linked to Bangor Radio operates on 114.4 MHz. The airport is equipped with a Category IIIB Instrument Landing System, with ILS approaches available to runways 17, 35 and 06.
The airport traces its origins to June 1927, when Manchester's Board of Mayor and Aldermen committed funds to establish an airfield, with ground broken near Pine Island Pond later that year. Two 1,800-foot runways were built within a month, and barnstormer George G. "Scotty" Wilson was persuaded to move from Boston to start the city's first flying service. Northeast Airways established operations at the field in 1933, prompting construction of the first passenger terminal. With the outbreak of the Second World War, the airport was taken over by the Army Air Force and renamed Grenier Field, after Manchester native Lieutenant Jean B. Grenier, who had died in a 1934 training accident. At its wartime peak the base housed some 6,000 troops, including the 45th Bombardment Group, which practised bombing runs on the site of what is now New Boston Air Force Station, and an anti-submarine squadron credited with destroying at least two German U-boats off the Atlantic coast. Civilian air service resumed in 1951 when Northeast Airways returned to the field. The airport operated for decades as Manchester Airport before the City of Manchester's aldermen voted in April 2006 to rename it Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, emphasising its proximity to Boston some 50 miles to the south. The site is also home to the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, built around the airport's original Art Deco control tower.
Manchester-Boston today handles scheduled passenger services alongside a significant cargo operation, with FedEx, UPS and Amazon Air all operating dedicated freighter flights, and UPS using the field as a regional sorting hub feeding smaller communities across northern New England via contracted turboprop operators. General aviation and corporate traffic is handled by the airport's fixed-base operator, Signature Flight Support, which provides aircraft fuelling, deicing, maintenance and avionics services alongside its support for the airline and cargo carriers.
