Manchester, New Hampshire Spotting August 23, 2024

by Ken Kula · Published February 1, 2025

avelo Boeing B-737-8F2 rolls out after landing at Manchester, New Hampshire

Article and photos by Ken Kula

Manchester, New Hampshire’s hometown airport actually sits within two municipalities… the city of Manchester and the town of Litchfield. Plans for the airport to be built began in 1927. By the end of the year, a pair of 1,800 foot runways were opened and its first arrivals and departures had occurred. A passenger terminal opened in 1933, and the next year, scheduled airline service ensued. Improvements to the airport occurred regularly, but in October 1940, the airport was selected as an Army Air Corps Base and civilian air traffic was sent elsewhere. On the day before the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, the Army Air Field’s first squadron of Douglas A-20 Havocs arrived. Throughout the World War II years, training, anti-submarine and bombing squadrons were assigned to the field. In 1942, the airfield was renamed as the Grenier Field, after local high school graduate Lt. Jean B. Grenier, who died in a military flight training accident in 1934.

In 1951, the now-U. S. Air Force allowed Northeast Airways to operate civilian flights to/from the field and in 1955, the Air Base was officially approved to be a joint-use airfield. In late 1961, a new airline terminal was opened, named after Manchester businessman Roscoe Ammon, who offered financing for the project. Then in 1966, the Air Force moved all military operations to other airfields in the region, and Grenier Field was fully ceded to Manchester and Londonderry. In 1978, the airport was officially renamed as the Manchester Airport. During the 1970s and 1980s, jet service was prevalent, and the small airline terminal was expanded. Initial plans from 1992 became reality as the new Phase 1 Manchester Airport passenger terminal was opened on January 1, 1994, with parking for a dozen airliners with new gates, new auto parking accommodations, and improved roadways leading to the complex were opened. In 1997, the airport celebrated its first 1 millionth airline passenger year.

Phase 2 opened in 1999, adding more airline gate spaces, a parking structure and improvements to runways, taxiways and terminal access. That same year, the airport served more than 2 million passengers and in the 2000 year, 3 million more. In 2003 the main runway was opened after a wide-ranging reconstruction and an addition to its length – the airport now offered 9,250 feet of landing space. A new control tower was added in 2004. By 2005, the airport had served another record 4.4 million passengers for the year. On April 18, 2006 the airport’s name was officially changed to the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport “to better reflect the important role it now plays in New England travel”.

Here’re are photos from a four-hour visit to the airport on Friday, August 23, 2024. These were taken from the parking lot of the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, located on the east side of the airport.