Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Portland International Jetport, on the western edge of Portland, Maine, is the state's busiest airport and a Class C-controlled field with a long paved main runway suited to everything from light singles to airline jets. Known locally simply as "the Jetport", it traces its roots to a grass strip built for a Portland doctor's Jenny biplane in the late 1920s and has grown into New England's principal regional gateway. For the simulator pilot it offers a full ATC environment, an ILS-equipped main runway, and a compact but busy general-aviation ramp alongside its airline operations.
Portland International Jetport sits on the western fringe of Portland, Maine, with part of its main runway extending into the neighbouring city of South Portland. Owned and operated by the City of Portland, it is the busiest airport in the state, mixing scheduled airline service from carriers such as American, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue, United, Breeze and Avelo with general aviation and occasional large military traffic. Its long, ILS-equipped main runway and Class C airspace make it a good, if busy, destination for a VFR or IFR sim flight into Maine.
The Jetport lies within Class C controlled airspace, about two miles west of downtown Portland, Maine. A portion of the airfield, including the main runway, actually falls within the boundary of South Portland rather than Portland itself. Pilots should expect to work with Approach/Departure control before joining the Class C airspace, and with Tower and Ground once in the pattern or on the movement area.
Portland has two physical runways. The main runway, 11/29, is 7,177 feet long, hard-surfaced, lit, and served by an ILS, capable of handling airline jets and heavy military traffic. The crosswind runway, 18/36, is hard-surfaced and lit, with runway 18 measuring 5,652 feet and runway 36 measuring 5,590 feet. Field elevation is 52 feet.
Air traffic services are provided on Tower 120.9 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF, with Ground control on 121.9 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 119.05 MHz, and Approach/Departure control operates on 119.75 MHz. Clearance delivery is also listed on 121.9 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. The main runway, 11/29, is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
As a Class C, tower-controlled airport, arriving traffic should expect to contact Approach/Departure on 119.75 MHz before entering the airspace, then Tower on 120.9 MHz for landing clearance, with Ground on 121.9 MHz for taxi instructions after landing.
Aviation Boulevard in South Portland, adjacent to the airfield, is home to an official plane-spotting area established in 2009, and can serve as a useful ground reference for the main runway threshold area when orienting a visual approach.
The airfield began in the late 1920s when Dr. Clifford "Kip" Strange established a landing ground, known as Stroudwater Airport, for his JN-4 "Jenny" biplane. Scheduled commercial service began on 1 August 1931 with a Boston-Maine Airways flight to Boston. In 1937 the City of Portland purchased the airfield for $68,471 and renamed it Portland-Westbrook Municipal Airport, the origin of the PWM airport code, "Westbrook" referring to the last directional light before the field in the nearby city of Westbrook. Between 1934 and 1935 the Maine Emergency Relief Administration built two gravel runways under Depression-era public works funding, and in 1940 the Works Progress Administration built the airport's first proper terminal, a brick structure that survives today as the general-aviation terminal. Runway 11/29 was constructed in 1957 and lengthened to 6,800 feet in 1966, and the current terminal opened in 1968 alongside the start of jet service, when Northeast Airlines flew DC-9s to LaGuardia. Northeast Airlines, tracing back to Boston-Maine Airways, held a long monopoly on Portland's air service before Delta Air Lines acquired it in 1972; other short-lived regional operators including Atlantic Airways, Aroostook Airways, Air New England and Air Vermont came and went through the 1960s to 1980s. The airport gained a sombre place in history on the morning of 11 September 2001, when two of the hijackers travelled on a Colgan Air flight from the Jetport to Boston's Logan International Airport before continuing to their attacks.
Portland International Jetport today handles scheduled service from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Breeze Airways and Avelo Airlines, alongside general aviation and occasional large military movements, and set a new passenger record of roughly 2.44 million travellers in 2024. Recent infrastructure work has included taxiway lighting upgrades completed in 2024 and federal funding secured in 2020 for a new connecting taxiway between the runways. The airport remains owned and operated by the City of Portland.