Manchester–Boston Regional Airport , informally referred to by its former name Manchester Airport, is a public use airport south of the central business district of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States on the border of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties. It is owned by the city of Manchester, and is in the southern part of the city, on the border with Londonderry, New Hampshire, extending into that town.
Opened in 1927, Manchester–Boston Regional Airport is by far the busiest airport in New Hampshire, with ten times the traffic of the next-busiest, Portsmouth. It is the only airport in the state with substantial commercial service. It is also New England's sixth-largest airport by passenger volume, behind Logan in Massachusetts; Bradley in Connecticut; Rhode Island T. F. Green in Rhode Island; Portland in Maine; and Patrick Leahy Burlington in Vermont. It moved more than 1 million passengers in a year for the first time in 1997. After years of growth, it handled 4.33 million passengers in 2005, its peak year. Passenger tallies have declined since then, similarly with many regional airports; it handled 1.85 million passengers in 2018, and traffic fell sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2021–2025, in which it is categorized as a small hub primary commercial service facility. The facility was known as Manchester Airport until April 18, 2006, when it added "Boston Regional" to advertise its proximity to Boston, about to the south. The airport has a Cat III B Instrument Landing System.Edward W. Browder, Jr. and Maurice B. Quirin, Manchester's Airport: Flying Through Time, pp. 329-330. It is home to the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, built around an Art Deco control tower, and its terminal opened in 1938.
Use Manchester–Boston is New England's third-largest cargo airport behind Connecticut's Bradley International, which is a hub for UPS Airlines, and Logan in Boston. FedEx, UPS and Amazon all serve Manchester with cargo-specific jets, including the Airbus A300, Boeing 757, Boeing 767 and Boeing 737.
UPS uses Manchester to "feed" the rest of northern New England by contracting with Wiggins Airways, which flies smaller prop-driven planes to places like Portland, Augusta, Bangor, Presque Isle, Rutland, and other communities. To handle this "regional sort," UPS built a sorting facility where packages coming in from the company's Louisville hub are redistributed to trucks or to the Wiggins feeder aircraft.
FedEx previously used Manchester as a regional sorting station as well but now supports the northern New England destinations via direct flights from Memphis, Tennessee, to Portland and Burlington. A contract with the Postal Service fills the FedEx jets (coming from hubs in Memphis and Indianapolis) with mail in addition to the typical assortment of express and overnight packages. DHL previously operated a 727-200 on a Wilmington, Ohio-Allentown, Pennsylvania-Manchester-Wilmington routing, but that service has since ceased.
In November 2022, Amazon Air began flying into Manchester utilizing Boeing 767 and Boeing 737 aircraft operated by Atlas Air from Fort Worth Alliance Airport and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Facility and operations Manchester Boston Regional Airport covers an area of , which contains two asphalt runways: Runway 17/35 measuring 9,250 x 150 ft (2,819 x 46 m) and Runway 6/24 measuring 7,651 x 150 ft (2,332 x 46 m). FAA data effective January 22, 2026.
History The Manchester airport was founded in June 1927, when the city's Board of Mayor and Aldermen put $15,000 towards the project. By October, a board of aviation had been founded, and ground was broken at an site near Pine Island Pond. It took only a month for two runways to be constructed. The board of aviation convinced George G. "Scotty" Wilson, a barnstormer operating out of Boston, to move to New Hampshire and start Manchester's first flying service. After the formation of Northeast Airways at the site in 1933, the first passenger terminal was built.
In 1940, as the U.S. entered World War II, the airport was chosen as an Army Air Force base. At its peak, some 6,000 troops were stationed there, including the 45th Bombardment Group – which practiced bombing runs on what is now New Boston Air Force Station – and an anti-submarine squadron that destroyed at least two Nazi subs off the U.S. Atlantic coast. It was renamed Grenier Field after Manchester native Lt. Jean B. Grenier, who died in a training mission in 1934. Civilian use returned in 1951 when Northeast Airways resumed flights.
The current Manchester airport began to take shape as a joint civil-military facility in the 1960s. A new civilian terminal and the first modern air traffic control tower in New Hampshire were constructed in 1961. Businessman Roscoe A. Ammon donated $500,000 for the construction of the new air terminal. In 1966, the Air Force removed its remaining forces and closed Grenier Air Force Base, leaving the airport open for expansion. In 1978 the airfield was renamed Manchester Airport.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the airport was served by Northeast Airlines with the Convair CV-240, Douglas DC-9, and Fokker FH-227. Delta Air Lines absorbed Northeast in 1972 and continued to serve the airport with the DC-9 until 1978, then Boeing 727-200s until 1980 when it discontinued service at Manchester.
In the mid-1980s, airlines once again started offering jet service out of Manchester. United Airlines inaugurated service at Manchester in 1983 with two daily flights to Chicago–O'Hare. This was part of their 50 States campaign, which positioned United as the only carrier to serve all 50 states with mainline service. The Boeing 727 and Boeing 737 were initially used on the Chicago flights, which would often make intermediate stops in cities like Providence, Albany, Syracuse, and Burlington to pick up or drop off passengers. Manchester was also a "tag-on" for United flights heading from Bangor and Portland, Maine, to Chicago, but the carrier no longer serves either city with mainline aircraft.
In the early 1990s, United Airlines began flights between Manchester and Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. But creation of a north–south hub at Dulles did not work for United, and heavy competition in this market led to a quick exit. The Boeing 737 was used for this short-lived service, which comprised about four daily circuits between the two airports. US Airways started service at Manchester in early 1986, by connecting their hubs at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The carrier used the DC-9, BAC 111, and 737-200 aircraft. Both carriers expanded service at Manchester over the years with larger planes and more flights. United now runs a strict non-stop schedule to and from Chicago with no intermediate stops or tag-ons. The 757 has been used by both United and US Airways at Manchester, which stands as the largest passenger-carrying plane to serve the airport in scheduled service. The Airbus A320 series of aircraft is also commonly used by United, Northwest Airlines (merged with Delta Air Lines), and occasionally by US Airways. In April 2010, Delta enhanced service to Manchester; it dropped its daily CRJ-700 service to Atlanta and replaced the aircraft with an MD-88 with seating for 149. Delta also switched all its Delta Connection service to Detroit with mainline service on DC-9's. On October 7, 2021, Spirit Airlines began serving Manchester with the Airbus A320, making it one of 3 airlines regularly serving Manchester with mainline aircraft. Southwest serves Manchester with the Boeing 737-700 and the Boeing 737-800. American flies the Airbus A319/20 from Charlotte.
Expansion
In 1992, a long-term expansion and improvement plan started to take shape. Two years later, a new terminal designed by HNTB and Lavallee Brensinger opened, providing ample room for larger jets. The airport continued to expand, opening a new parking garage and parking lots in the next years, as well as working to reconstruct the runways and taxiways. In 1998, these expansions paid off, with MetroJet, Northwest, and Southwest all beginning service. The airport prospered from the "Southwest Effect", in which competing airlines increase service and decrease fares to compete with the low-cost carrier. Throughout the 1990s, Manchester outpaced almost every other similarly sized airport in terms of passenger growth. In 2003, Runway 17/35 was extended from to , allowing non-stop service to Las Vegas.
In April 2006, the aldermen of the city of Manchester voted to change the name of the airport to "Manchester–Boston Regional Airport" in an effort to increase its visibility to travelers around the country.
Decline in passengers In 2006 the airport started to experience a decrease in passengers flying through its facility, with service to only twelve cities. In 2017, the airport served the fewest passengers since 1998. United Airlines canceled its Chicago O'Hare service in July 2018, making Newark its only destination from Manchester, which was replaced by Washington Dulles in March 2019. In 2020 Delta consolidated its service to Boston. Southwest as of 2021 has diminished service to four cities, with Delta Air Lines serving Atlanta once daily instead of twice.
The decline in service is due to increased activity at Logan International Airport in Boston and to mergers between airlines, which led to decreased flights. When Southwest entered Logan in 2009, it also significantly reduced prices at Logan, prompting more people to fly out of Boston rather than Manchester.
Current service
The airport administration hired a new airport director in 2018 to help it bring back passengers to Manchester, as well as to help bring in new airlines and destinations. Subsequent years have seen many changes in service at the airport.
In 2019, American Airlines announced service to Chicago O'Hare after United discontinued its O'Hare service. United announced service to Washington-Dulles instead of Newark in March 2019, but ended it on January 4, 2022.
In November 2020, Delta Air Lines announced that they would discontinue service to MHT.
On February 9, 2021, Aeroterm announced that it would develop a new cargo facility at the airport.
On June 16, 2021, Spirit Airlines announced it would be starting service to four Florida cities in October; it later announced that seasonal service to Myrtle Beach would start April 2022. Spirit was the first new airline to begin service at Manchester-Boston since Air Canada in 2004. However, in 2024 the airline discontinued all MHT service.
In November 2022, Amazon Air, operated by Atlas Air, began service from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport using Boeing 767 aircraft; current operations now include a flight from Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, which then continues to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
On March 15, 2023 Avelo Airlines announced nonstop service to Raleigh–Durham International Airport twice weekly, utilizing the Boeing 737-800. Later on February 15, 2024, Avelo Airlines announced a new route to Greenville/Spartanburg.
On February 20, 2024, Sun Country Airlines announced seasonal, once a week service to Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota.
On February 27, 2024, Breeze Airways announced their intention to serve the airport to three cities, with the first two to Orlando and Charleston beginning on June 14, 2024, and Fort Myers beginning later in October. Breeze also offers a one-stop "BreezeThru" service to Tampa via Charleston, South Carolina.