In the late 1930s, Leslie Holm, a farmer in Nobadeer, plowed over and smoothed some of his cornfields with the help of David Raub, a former test pilot who had moved to Nantucket, and together they formed the Nobadeer Flying Service with three small planes they had bought for charter and instruction. Soon, they began allowing the Town of Nantucket to use fields on his property as an airfield. Holm's farmhouse, located at the intersection of Old South and Nobadeer Farm Roads, is still standing today, although airport buildings have been built around it. During World War II, the U.S. Navy took control of the airport and operated it as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Nantucket. The Navy constructed temporary bunkers and buildings, of which the buildings were torn down after the war. The bunkers, which were constructed using concrete and steel, are currently used for airport storage.
Runway 6/24: 6,303 x 150 ft, ILS/DME equipped, with approved GPS approaches.
Runway 15/33: 4,500 x 100 ft, has approved GPS approaches.
Runway 12/30: 2,696 x 50 ft, it is used as a taxiway at night and during non-VFR conditions.
For the 12-month period ending March 31, 2017 the airport averaged of 291 operations per day: 59% air taxi, 38% transient general aviation, 2% commercial, <1% military, <1% local general aviation. In that same time period there were 16 aircraft based at the airport: 14 single engine, and 2 multi-engine. In 2009, the terminal was updated with an upgrade of the previous and an expansion of at a cost of approximately $29 million. A major goal of the expansion was to increase the capacity of the terminal substantially over the original 1950s facility. Another goal was to segregate air-taxi passengers, who do not require security screening, from airline passengers, who do. The airport apron for commercial aircraft has eight parking stands for Cessna 402 aircraft mainly operated byCape Air and Nantucket Airlines. There are also four larger parking stands for JetBlueEmbraer 190 jets, American Eagle Airlines CRJ-200/CRJ-700/CRJ-900 and Embraer 175 regional jets , Delta ConnectionCRJ-200 regional jets and United ExpressERJ-145 regional jets. More stands are available if needed. Most of the parking is reserved for general aviation aircraft, with parking for the larger, commercial services located on the north side of the terminal.
The airport is currently home to a variety of general aviation aircraft, ranging from Piper J-3 Cubs to Boeing Business Jets in the summer months. Former Vice President of the United StatesJoe Biden visited the island on seven Thanksgiving holidays during his eight-year term, arriving and departing on board a U.S. Air Force operated Boeing 757-200 flying as Air Force Two and was accompanied by a USAF operated Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo jet. The 757 and C-17 are currently the largest aircraft ever to land and takeoff from Nantucket. The largest regularly scheduled passenger airliner flown in mainline service was the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jet operated by Northeast and Continental. Currently, the largest commercial jetliner serving the airport is the Embraer 190 operated by JetBlue.
Cape Air and Nantucket Airlines
It is important to note that Cape Air acquired Nantucket Airlines and now operates Cessna 402 aircraft as Cape Air flights although keeping the original Nantucket Airlines paint scheme. Anywhere in this article that mentions Nantucket Airlines is actually referring to Cape Air flights. Nantucket Airlines also operated the Cessna 402 aircraft.
Statistics
Top destinations
Airline market share
Accidents
On the evening of August 15, 1958, Northeast Airlines Flight 258, a Convair CV-240-2 crashed 3/10 of a mile NE of ACK attempting a VOR instrument approach to runway 24 in heavy fog. The aircraft struck the ground 1450 feet short of the runway and 600 feet to the right of the extended centerline. Of the 34 on board, 22 passengers and three crew members perished. Pilot error was the cause of the accident.
