Official Website
Service: Domestic
Airlines: US Airways Express
Distance from Manhattan: 82.0 miles
Directions By
Car: See map above.
Airport
Information:
- 394 acres
- Runway 02-20: 5,600'
long
- Runway 14-32: 3,175'
long
- 4 Aircraft Gates / 1
with Jetbridge
- Served by 1 airline
- 1 non-stop
destination
Functional
Role: Despite its catchment area of 2.8 million passengers, the fifth
largest in New England, only one percent of that catchment area used New Haven
in FY 2004, 59 percent used Bradley, 23 percent used the New York City area
airports, and 13 percent used Providence.
History
Tweed-New Haven Regional
Airport's history begins on November
23, 1922 when New Haven's
Mayor David E. Fitzgerald created a commission to study potential sites for the
development of an airport. Under the
leadership of James W. Cook, the commission chose the present site based on the
expansion opportunities, and close proximity to the city. The spot they chose
was once a thickly wooded and swampy area. The land cost $65,000 and was
secured in the name of the city. It was also located partially in the Town of East Haven, so a special act of the state legislature was
necessary for New Haven
to acquire the land.
The airport
officially opened on November 11, 1929 when Mayor Thomas H. Tulley and Governor
John H. Trumbull began construction with a gold and silver spade, which had
been hand delivered via air by a local parachutist, Ed Sherman. To complete his
delivery, Sherman had jumped out of a Bourdon "Kitty Hawk" open cockpit bi-plane piloted by John Hancock
"Jack" Tweed.
From the 1930s
to the 1960s, the airport was called the "Municipal Airport"
and was managed by John Tweed. In 1961 the community renamed the airport after
him.
In World War II,
the War Department took over Tweed
Airport. Official
occupation by the 429th Air Base & Headquarters Squadron began
at 11am on November 8, 1942. The airport was located in the War Department's
East Coast Defense Zone and was considered a "Vital Defense Area".
Eventually,
Tweed's role in commercial aviation grew as Allegheny, American, and Eastern
Airlines included the airport on their routes from Boston
to New York.
However, beginning in the 1960s, the major airlines began replacing their
smaller planes with larger ones, which prevented them from using Tweed.
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