Tweed New Haven Airport

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Tweed New Haven Airport
250px
IATA: HVNICAO: KHVNFAA LID: HVN
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of New Haven
Operator Tweed New Haven Airport Authority
Serves New Haven, Connecticut
Elevation AMSL 12 ft / 4 m
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Website flytweed.com
Maps
FAA airport diagram
FAA airport diagram
HVN is located in Connecticut
HVN
HVN
Location of airport in Connecticut
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
2/20 5,600 1,707 Asphalt
14/32 3,626 1,105 Asphalt
Statistics (2012)
Aircraft operations 41,598
Based aircraft 41
Sources: airport website[1] and FAA[2]

Tweed New Haven Airport[1] (IATA: HVNICAO: KHVNFAA LID: HVN) is a public airport three miles southeast of downtown New Haven, in New Haven County, Connecticut.[2] The airport is partly in City of New Haven, which owns the airport,[2] and partly in the East Haven. It was formerly Tweed New Haven Regional Airport.[3]

Tweed is one of the two airports with regularly-scheduled commercial service in Connecticut, the other being Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks. An American Airlines affiliate is New Haven's only airline.

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).[4] Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 33,988 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[5] 33,000 in 2009 and 35,854 in 2010.[6]

History

File:TweedNH Field.jpg
Tweed New Haven airfield from the north (Dodge Avenue).

Tweed was dedicated on August 29, 1931 as New Haven Municipal Airport; it was renamed Tweed in 1961 in honor of John H. Tweed, its first airport manager. American Airlines stopped at New Haven in the 1930s–1950s, pulling out in 1960 and being replaced by Allegheny Airlines. Eastern left in 1969.

1970s and 1980s

Fixed Base Operator "New Haven Airways" started scheduled flights and became New Haven's home town airline, NewAir.[7] The airline had flights to New York's JFK and LaGuardia Airports, Philadelphia, Baltimore/Washington International, and Washington National Airports, on Twin Otters, EMB-110s, and Shorts-360s.

Competing was Pilgrim Airlines based at Groton–New London,[8] to New York–JFK and LaGuardia, as well as Boston, on Twin Otters and F-27s. By the mid-1980s the two airlines merged and were purchased by Hartford-based Business Express Airlines, which initially flew only from Brainard Airport to Boston and Philadelphia.

In 1987 Hyannis-based Provincetown-Boston Airlines (PBA), a commuter airline for Peoplexpress Airlines and then Continental Airlines, began flights to New Haven. PBA flew EMB-110s from Tweed to Continental's hub at Newark and to Hyannis and Nantucket MA.

US Air Express flew to Philadelphia and Washington DC.

Jet flights from New Haven to Chicago-O'Hare started in 1985–86, initially on Air Wisconsin's BAE-146s as "United Express"; from 1991 to 1996 United 737-300s flew nonstop to O'Hare. Continental Express service continued, on Beech 1900s and ATR-42s, while Business Express flights became Saab 340s and Beech 1900s.

Service Decline

By the late 1990s Business Express service ended, as it put its Saab-340s out of service, after is acquisition by AMR Corporation. Continental Express flight ended in the 1990s, then came back, and then left again by the late 1990s.

Comair (Delta Connection) began service to HVN in 2004 flying twice daily to Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport using a CRJ 200 and was first managed by Ziv S. The Airline ceased operations at HVN on Jan 2006.

Pan Am Clipper Connection, operated by Boston-Maine Airways, began non-stop flights to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Hanscom Field, and Pease International Airport on March 8, 2007 using 19 seat Jetstream 31 aircraft. Service ended on 30 July 2007.[9]

This left US Air Express as the only airline at Tweed.

Present day

American Eagle, which flew from New Haven to Philadelphia and Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., now is the only passenger airline at New Haven, flying to Philadelphia.

United Airlines connects to New Haven's Union Station in downtown New Haven via Amtrak train to/from Newark (EWR); the airport code for New Haven in this case is ZVE, but United does not fly to Tweed.

Tweed Airport is popular with private aircraft and companies carrying tourists who want to view the Connecticut shoreline. During events at Yale University, the general aviation ramp is often crowded with private jets – during the 1997 commencement, the corporate jets of Coca Cola and Procter & Gamble were parked nose to nose. The airport also gets heavy use during the annual New Haven Open at Yale tennis tournament.

Today the airport is operated by AvPorts of Teterboro, New Jersey, under contract by the Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority.

Public transit to the airport is available on Connecticut Transit's "G" route.

Planned Expansion and Opposition

The future of the airport has been the subject of disagreement between the City of New Haven and the Town of East Haven. New Haven has advocated airport runway expansion, which would be required to attract more commercial air service and larger planes.[citation needed] Local residents have historically been opposed, saying that expansion would negatively affect the local environment and health of New Haven and East Haven residents.[10][11]

In 2007 the Federal Aviation Administration and the State of Connecticut approved the addition of safety overruns to Tweed's main runway. The City of New Haven issued the wetlands and building permits for the project, but officials in East Haven voted to reject the upgrade proposal and deny permits for work on the East Haven (North) side; the Airport Authority and the City of New Haven filed a lawsuit against the Town of East Haven to allow work on the north overrun and won.

Since the lawsuit, The Airport Authority has completed the work for the $25 million safety overruns on the New Haven (south) side of the airport, as well as the East Haven (north) side.[12]

On March 16, 2009 New Haven and East Haven announced that agreement had been reached, keeping the main runway at 5,600 feet (1,700 m), with all obstructions in the approach zones to be removed. Departures are to be capped at 30 per day, with a passenger cap of 180,000 boardings per year.[13]

In July 2014, the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority and the City of New Haven sought federal grant money in opposition to these terms, proposing to expand the main runway past 5,600 feet (1,700 m).[14] In the same month, the airport also sought an increase in annually-appropriated State of Connecticut funds, specifically to pave the runway safety areas in order to expand the length of the runway.[15] This legislation was not enacted and federal money was not granted in 2014, prompting Mayor Toni Harp of New Haven and Rep. Rosa DeLauro to write a letter to residents pledging their support for runway expansion in 2015.[16]

Opposition to the airport runway expansion is strong amongst local residents, resulting in a grassroots campaign.[17] Tensions flared up at May 20, 2015[18][19] and May 21, 2015[20][21][22][23] community meetings. East Haven voters and Mayor Joseph Maturo still oppose Tweed expansion proposals.[24]

In November 2015, the Airport Authority's Board of Directors voted to sue the State of Connecticut in Federal court.[25][26]

Tim Larson, Executive Director and sitting Connecticut Senator for East Hartford described Tweed as "an airport at a critical juncture. Commercial carriers are interested in servicing the Southern Connecticut market but will not consider coming to Tweed until the runway is lengthened." He added that "American (formerly US Airways), may discontinue our existing service when in the next few years they replace the current Dash-8 aircraft with planes that require a longer runway."[27] Activist residents responded with a new effort against the expansion and a reporting app for noise, health, and quality of life complaints.[28] East Haven Mayor Maturo described the lawsuit as "foolish".[29][30]

Facilities and aircraft

Tweed-New Haven Airport covers 394 acres (159 ha) at an elevation of 12 feet (4 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt runways: 2/20 is 5,600 by 150 feet (1,707 x 46 m) and 14/32 is 3,626 by 100 feet (1,105 x 30 m).[2]

In the year ending March 31, 2012 the airport had 41,598 aircraft operations, average 113 per day: 89.8% general aviation, 7.6% scheduled commercial, 1.6% air taxi, and 1% military. 41 aircraft were then based at this airport: 83% single-engine, 12% multi-engine, and 5% jet.[2]

The Connecticut Wing Civil Air Patrol 073rd Minuteman Squadron (NER-CT-073) operates out of the airport.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations
American Eagle Philadelphia
American Eagle is currently the only airline to operate commercial service out of the airport.

Incidents

  • On March 1, 1958 an American Airlines Convair CV-240-O with eight passengers destined for Bridgeport Airport crashed on the runway after the landing gear was retracted before the aircraft had lifted off. The plane landed on its belly and a small engine fire occurred. No injuries.
  • On June 7, 1971 an Allegheny Airlines Convair 580 with 30 passengers arriving from Groton-New London Airport crashed, striking cottages 4,890 feet (1,490 m) from the runway. Twenty-eight occupants died. It was blamed on pilot error.[31]
  • On January 7, 2011 a Bombardier Dash 8-100, operating as Piedmont Airlines flight 4507 from Philadelphia International Airport to New Haven was struck by lightning over the Long Island Sound. The captain reported electrical problems and diverted safely to Long Island Macarthur Airport due to better weather. The flight carried 33 passengers who were bussed to New Haven.
  • On August 9, 2013, a Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey crashed into two houses in an East Haven residential neighborhood while on approach to this airport. The impact and the resulting fires destroyed both houses.[32] The incident resulted in the deaths of both people on the plane (the 54-year-old pilot Bill Henningsgaard and his 17-year-old son Maxwell) and two children in one of the homes (13-year-old Sade Brantley and her 1-year-old sister Madisyn Mitchell).

See also

References

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  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 FAA Airport Master Record for HVN (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective November 15, 2012.
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  31. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19710607-0
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External links