The Greater Binghamton Airport has served Binghamton for six decades. Development started in 1945, due to difficult night operations at the Tri-Cities Airport in Endicott, New York during World War II. Broome County Airport opened in 1951 with a 5,600-foot main Runway 16/34, and a 5,002-foot crosswind Runway 10/28. An approach lighting system was added in 1959 to the runway 34 approach end. The main runway was extended 700 feet in 1969. In the early 1980s the field was renamed Edwin A. Link Field-Broome County Airport in honor of Edwin A. Link a well-known inventor and aviation pioneer in the Binghamton area. Mr. Link was known for the creation of the Link Trainer, the first trainer that taught pilots how to fly in instrument meteorological conditions using only the instruments in the cockpit. In the 1950s Mohawk, TWA and Colonial-then-Eastern stopped at BGM; TWA left in 1965 and Eastern left in 1969-70. Mohawk's successors' jets still stopped in the 1990s. In the 1980s a commuter airline, Brockway Air, flew Beechcraft 1900s and Fokker F-27s from Broome County airport to Syracuse, Boston, Albany, Keene, NH, Worcester, Burlington, and Rutland. The south southeast-facing runway 16 gained an instrument landing system during the 1970s along with a medium intensity approach lighting system with runway alignment indicator lights to lower landing minimums, but the localizer antenna was placed to the east of the runway with an offset. The airport began extending the north end of the main runway 16/34 in 1988; the extension from 6,298 to 7,500 feet was completed in October 1990. In 1991 the airport was renamed to Binghamton Regional Airport. In 2002 Runway 16/34 was shortened to 7,100 feet to make room for an Engineered Material Arresting System. The EMAS is a bed of material that will crush under the weight of an aircraft, stopping the aircraft in the event of a runway overrun. In 2003 the airport was again renamed to the Greater Binghamton Airport. The airport's old linear terminal was unable to keep up with regional jet traffic, and four new jet bridges opened in July 2004. BGM got a $12.3 million federal grant in September 2011 to replace the old EMAS system installed in 2002 and extend Runway 16/34 to 7,304 feet. The project was completed in November 2012 and led to a displaced threshold on Runway 34.
Facilities
The airport covers 1,199 acres at an elevation of 1,636 feet. It has two asphalt runways: 16/34 is 7,304 by 150 feet and 10/28 is 5,001 by 150 feet. In 2011 the airport had 21,542 aircraft operations, average 59 per day: 56% general aviation, 38% air taxi, 6% military, and <1% airline. 34 aircraft were then based at the airport: 62% single-engine, 18% multi-engine, 12% helicopter, and 9% jet. As of 2020, the airport has one scheduled departure flight and one scheduled arrival flight.
In June 1952 a U.S. Navy North American SNJ Texan trainer crashed 250 yards east of the airport. The pilot suffered minor injuries.
On July 23, 1955, a U.S. Naval Reserve Grumman TBM Avenger crashed short of the runway. The pilot suffered minor injuries.
On September 4, 1957, a U.S. Air Force Douglas C-124A Globemaster II en route from Larson AFB, Washington crashed while attempting a landing. The plane was delivering 20 tons of equipment for Link Aviation. The crew of 9 survived.
On Wednesday, November 24, 2010, United Airlines Flight 7823, a United ExpressSaab 340 turboprop operated by Colgan Air made an emergency landing after the crew received a fire indication in the left engine while passing through 10,000 feet. The flight was bound for Washington Dulles International Airport. On landing in Binghamton, 16 minutes after takeoff, all 33 passengers evacuated via over-wing emergency exits. None required medical attention. Maintenance determined the cause of the fire indication was a faulty sensor. Passengers continued to Washington after about a five-hour delay.
