Tweed-new Haven Airport

Tweed New Haven Regional Airport (IATA: HVN, ICAO: KHVN, FAA LID: HVN), formerly known as Tweed-New Haven Airport, is a public airport located three miles (5 km) southeast of the central business district of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Tweed New Haven Regional Airport is currently owned by the City of New Haven. The airport property is located within New Haven and the town of East Haven.

History

Tweed was dedicated on August 29, 1931, as the New Haven Municipal Airport. It was renamed Tweed in 1961 in honor of John H. Tweed, its first airport manager. Air service was provided by American Airlines, beginning service in the 1930s, and later by Allegheny Airlines.

In the 1970s and 1980s the "major carriers" left New Haven to focus service at larger airports. Regional or "commuter" carriers grew to fill the gaps left by major airlines. Fixed Base Operator "New Haven Airways" started providing scheduled air service to fill the void, and became New Haven's home town airline NewAir. The airline operated flights to New York's JFK and LaGuardia Airports, Philadelphia, Baltimore/Washington International, and Washington National Airports, using Twin Otters, EMB-110s, and Shorts-360s.

Competing for New Haven's air travelers was Groton/New London based Pilgrim Airlines, also operating flights to New York/JFK and LaGuardia, as well as Boston, using Twin Otters and F-27 aircraft. By the mid 1980s, the two competing Connecticut based airlines merged together, and then was purchased by Hartford based Business Express Airlines, which was initially flying only from Hartford/Bradley Airport to Boston and Philadelphia.

In 1987, after the merger of People Express Airlines and Continental Airlines, Hyannis MA based Provincetown-Boston Airlines (PBA), which operated as a commuter airline owned by People Express and then Continental Airlines, began service at New Haven. PBA operated flights from Tweed/New Haven to Continental's hub at Newark International Airport, as well as providing service to Hyannis and Nantucket, using EMB-110 aircraft.

In the 1990s, new jet service was added from New Haven to Chicago/O'Hare, initially using Air Wisconsin's BAE-146 aircraft as a "United Express" carrier. Soon after, United replaced the Air Wisconsin service with its own 737 aircraft. The service was short lived, with United likely realizing that the service only competed with its own service from Hartford/Bradley. Continental Express service continued, and was upgraded to Beech-1900 and ATR-42 aircraft; while Business Express flights upgraded to Saab-340 and Beech-1900s.

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 service ended for a while in the 1990s, then came back, and then left again by the late 1990s.

The airport was also served by Comair, a Delta Connection carrier that offered service to and from Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. This service was discontinued in January 2006.

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

This then left the US Air Express service as the lone survivor of scheduled air service at Tweed/New Haven.

Present day

US Airways Express, which formerly flew from New Haven to both Philadelphia and Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., now is the only passenger airline that offers daily flights in and out of Tweed New Haven to Philadelphia. The airport is also popular with both private aircraft and companies providing flights for tourists who want to view the Connecticut shoreline from the air.

During major 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 on the tarmac. The airport also gets heavy use during the annual Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.

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

Future plans

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. However, many East Haven residents have been opposed, alleging that expansion would negatively affect the mostly residential neighborhoods surrounding the airport.

In 2007, the Federal Aviation Administration and the State of Connecticut approved the proposed addition of safety overruns to Tweed's main runway. The City of New Haven issued the necessary wetlands and building permits for the project. However, officials in the town of 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 for work to proceed on the north overrun and won.

Since the lawsuit, The Airport Authority has completed the necessary work for the $25 million safety overruns on the New Haven (south) side of the airport.

On March 16, 2009, the New Haven and East Haven announced that an agreement had been reached, keeping the main runway at 5,600 feet, 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.

Facilities and aircraft

Tweed-New Haven Airport covers an area of 394 acres (159 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 2/20 measuring 5,600 x 150 ft (1,707 x 46 m) and 14/32 measuring 3,626 x 100 ft (1,105 x 30 m). During the 1990s, United Airlines service included Boeing 737s operating on the longer runway. In order to obtain take-off speed with these jets on full flights, it was not uncommon for passengers and/or luggage to be offloaded to reduce weight, or for the pilots to wait on the runway for a favorable wind.

For the 12-month period ending July 31, 2006, the airport had 64,392 aircraft operations, an average of 176 per day: 91% general aviation, 7% air taxi, 2% military and <1% scheduled commercial. There are 72 aircraft based at this airport: 86% single engine, 7% multi-engine and 7% jet aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

Incidents

A Convair CV-240-O operated by American Airlines 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. There were no injuries.

A Convair CV-580 operated by Allegheny Airlines with 30 passengers arriving from Groton-New London Airport crashed, striking cottages located 4,890 feet (1,490 m) from the runway. Twenty-eight occupants died. It was determined that pilot error was the cause.

Location & QuickFacts

FAA Information Effective:	2006-09-28
Airport Identifier:	HVN
Longitude/Latitude:	072-53-12.5000W/41-15-49.5000N -72.886806/41.263750 (Estimated)
Elevation:	14 ft / 4.27 m (Surveyed)
Land:	394 acres
From nearest city:	3 nautical miles SE of New Haven, CT
Location:	New Haven County, CT
Magnetic Variation:	14W (1985)

Owner & Manager

Ownership:	Publicly owned
Owner:	City Of New Haven
Address:	770 Chapel Street New Haven, CT 06510
Phone number:	203-946-8222
Manager:	Richard Lamport
Address:	155 Burr St New Haven, CT 06512
Phone number:	203-466-8833

Airport Operations and Facilities

Airport Use:	Open to public
Wind indicator:	Yes
Segmented Circle:	Yes
Control Tower:	Yes
Attendance Schedule:	ALL/ALL/0600-2030 FUEL AVBL AFTER HRS 203-467-9555.
Lighting Schedule:	ATC-CTL WHEN ATCT CLSD ACTVT HIRL RY 02/20; MALSF RY 02; MIRL RY 14/32 - CTAF.
Beacon Color:	Clear-Green (lighted land airport)
Landing fee charge:	Yes LNDG FEE FOR ACFT OVER 5,000 LBS EXCEPT MILITARY & GOVERNMENT ACFT.
Sectional chart:	New York
Region:	ANE - New England
Boundary ARTCC:	ZBW - Boston
Responsible ARTCC:	ZNY - New York
Tie-in FSS:	BDR - Bridgeport
FSS on Airport:	No
FSS Phone:	866-293-5149
FSS Toll Free:	1-800-WX-BRIEF
NOTAMs Facility:	HVN (NOTAM-d service avaliable)
Certification type/date:	I AS 5/1973 CLSD TO UNSCHEDULED AIR CARRIER OPNS WITH MORE THAN 19 PSGR SEATS EXCEPT PPR CALL OPERATIONS 203-466-8844.
Federal Agreements:	NGY3

Airport Communications

CTAF:	124.800
Unicom:	122.950

Airport Services

Fuel available:	100LLA
Airframe Repair:	MAJOR
Power Plant Repair:	MAJOR
Bottled Oxygen:	HIGH
Bulk Oxygen:	HIGH

Runway Information

Runway 02/20

Runway 14/32

Radio Navigation Aids

Remarks

Based Aircraft

Major Carriers Serving This Airport