Greater Binghamton Airport is a county-owned American airport eight miles north of

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, in Broome County, New York. It is in East Maine, New York and serves the Southern Tier of New York. The airport was named Broome County Airport through the 1970s. It was renamed Edwin A. Link Field-Broome County Airport to honor the inventor of the aircraft instrument simulator, the Link Trainer, a name it kept until the 1990s when it was again renamed as Binghamton Regional Airport. The name Greater Binghamton Airport was chosen in 2003. The field is still named in Link's honor. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''primary commercial service'' airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

records say the airport had 108,325 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 98,090 in 2009 and 108,988 in 2010.

History

The Greater Binghamton Airport (BGM) (originally Broome County 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 term Link Trainer, also known as the "Blue box" and "Pilot Trainer" is commonly used to refer to a series of flight simulators produced between the early 1930s and early 1950s by Link Aviation Devices, founded and headed by Ed Link, based o ...

, the first trainer that taught pilots how to fly in instrument meteorological conditions using only the instruments in the cockpit ("Facility Orientation Guide", n.d.). In the 1950s

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

, Trans World Airlines, and

Colonial Airlines Colonial Airlines was a United States airline from 1942 to 1956 with bases at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York City and at Montréal/St-Hubert Airport in Montreal, Canada. History It was founded as Canadian Colonial Airways on 6 March 1928 to ...

(later Eastern Air Lines) stopped at BGM; TWA left in 1965 and Eastern left in 1969-70. Mohawk's successors' jets still stopped into the 1990s. In the 1980s a commuter airline,

Brockway Air Brockway Air was a regional airline in the United States, which was formerly known as Air North and originally as Northern Airways. History Headquartered in Burlington, Vermont, the airline began operating in the late 1960s under a marketing re ...

, 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 (EMAS). 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. The airport lost significant airline service in the 2010s, with

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

and

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

exiting the airport in 2016, leaving the airport with one carrier, a single

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

route to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, for several years. In August 2022, low cost carrier

Avelo Airlines Avelo Airlines () is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier headquartered in Houston, Texas. It previously operated charter flights as ''Casino Express Airlines'' and ''Xtra Airways'', before transitioning to scheduled operations and rebranding as Av ...

announced new service from Binghamton to Fort Meyers and Orlando in Florida. These flights will be operated by a

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...

aircraft. This is the first service to Florida the airport has had. The airline canceled the launch of its Fort Myers focus city on October 13, citing a lack of bookings due to Hurricane Ian. On September 14, 2022, New York Governor

Kathy Hochul Kathleen Hochul ( ; née Courtney; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician serving as the 57th governor of New York since August 24, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she is New York's first female governor, as well as the first ...

announced that the Greater Binghamton Airport was being awarded funds for renovations under the state's Upstate Airport Economic Development and Revitalization initiative. US$32 million of state funds and $5M from other sources was earmarked for upgrades including integration of the

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

and passenger terminals, replacement of the loading-zone canopy, and construction of new facilities for

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...

Facilities

The airport covers 1,199 acres (485 ha) at an elevation of 1,636 feet (499 m). It has two asphalt

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

s: 16/34 is 7,304 by 150 feet (2,226 x 46 m) and 10/28 is 5,001 by 150 feet (1,524 x 46 m). In 2011 the airport had 21,542 aircraft operations, average 59 per day: 56%

, 38%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

, 6% military, and <1% airline. 34 aircraft were then based at the airport: 62% single-engine, 18% multi-engine, 12%

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

, and 9% jet. As of 2020, the airport has one scheduled departure flight (Delta flight to Detroit) and one scheduled arrival flight (Delta flight from Detroit).

Airlines and destinations

Top destinations

Incidents

* In June 1952 a U.S. Navy

North American SNJ Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

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 The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval a ...

crashed short of the runway. The pilot suffered minor injuries. * On September 4, 1957, a U.S. Air Force

Douglas C-124A Globemaster II The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shaky", is an American heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. The C-124 was the primary heavy-lift transport for United States Air Force (USAF ...

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 Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

turboprop operated by

Colgan Air Colgan Air was an American certificated regional airline subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. The headquarters of Colgan Air were located in Memphis, Tennessee. Colgan Air operated for Continental Express/United Express, and US Airways Expre ...

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 Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and Fa ...

. 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.
/ref>

References

External links

Greater Binghamton Airport
official site
Web archive for BGM Website
*
Aerial image as of May 1994
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to pro ...

'' * * *
{{Binghamton, New York Airports in New York (state) Transportation buildings and structures in Broome County, New York Companies based in Broome County, New York 1951 establishments in New York (state)