Melbourne Orlando International Airport is a public airport northwest of downtown

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, in

Brevard County, Florida Brevard County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county seat is located in Ti ...

, United States, and 50 miles southeast of

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

, located on central

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Space Coast The Space Coast is a region in the U.S. state of Florida around the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It is one of several "themed" coasts around Florida. All orbital launches from American soil carrying NASA astr ...

. The airport is reached by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Boulevard ( State Road 508). It is governed by a seven-member board which is appointed by the Melbourne City Council and the private sector. The airport budget is part of the Melbourne municipal budget; the airport receives no local tax dollars. The projected expenses for 2010 were $14.1 million. The executive director of the airport is Greg Donovan, A.A.E. Since 2015, the airport had been named Orlando Melbourne International Airport. However, due to a lawsuit claiming this name was misleading to passengers, the airport changed its name in May 2021.

History

Early years

Melbourne International Airport began in 1928 when a Pitcairn Aircraft landed on a cow pasture strip north of Kissimmee Highway. Airmail service started in late 1928 when the airport was designated a fueling stop. In 1933 the City of Melbourne acquired west of Indian River Bluff to develop as a new airport, which was further developed and operated as

Naval Air Station Melbourne Naval Air Station (NAS) Melbourne was a United States Naval Base in Melbourne, Florida. The Navy used NAS Melbourne for gunnery training for pilots of carrier-based fighter aircraft and as a base for WAVES during World War II. While operation ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Returned to the city as a Surplus Property Airport after the War, Melbourne Airport was deeded to the city in 1947. It was a municipal airport until 1967 when the city created the Melbourne Airport Authority to plan, operate, maintain, and develop the airport, then called Melbourne Municipal Airport. The name was Cape Kennedy Regional Airport and city officials changed the name to Melbourne Regional Airport in 1973 to better reflect its role. In January 1951, the airport had runways 04/22, 09/27, 13/31 and 16/34, all being listed as being long. Scheduled airline flights began in 1953. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide listed four

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

departures,

Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G ( ...

s to

Vero Beach Vero Beach is a city in and the seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. Vero Beach is the second most populous city in Indian River County. Abundant in beaches and wildlife, Vero Beach is located on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is thi ...

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

and

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. National Airlines arrived in 1959 with

Douglas DC-6B The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with ...

s and scheduled the first

jet airliner A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly cl ...

flights in 1963:

Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Ju ...

s Miami-Melbourne-New Orleans-Houston-Los Angeles and Los Angeles-Houston-Melbourne-Miami. In 1960, Meadowlane Elementary School first opened at a Naval hospital on the airport grounds. The school moved to West Melbourne in 1961. In 1969, a National DC-8 flew Los Angeles-Tampa-Melbourne-Miami. Houston and Los Angeles figured in NASA's space program, and Melbourne was close to the NASA Kennedy Space Center. In July 1974 a National

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

flew Miami-Melbourne-Tampa-New Orleans-Los Angeles-San Diego; National

Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpor ...

s flew direct Houston and New Orleans to Melbourne. In May 1979 National had one flight a day from Melbourne, a 727-200 to Tampa. In the late 1960s and early 1970s,

Boeing 727s,

Douglas DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

s and Lockheed Electras flew out of the airport. In June 1967 Eastern announced "The Space Corridor" from Melbourne to three centers in the space program:

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. Eastern's "Space Corridor" was a Melbourne-Orlando-Huntsville-St. Louis-Seattle

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter f ...

. In June 1967 Eastern flew nonstop Melbourne to Atlanta, Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale and direct to New York City (

JFK Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...

), Washington, D.C. (

Dulles 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 Fai ...

), Boston and Miami. In February 1976 Eastern flew a 727 direct Los Angeles to Melbourne via Atlanta; Eastern eventually dropped Melbourne upon the airlines closure in 1991. In the early 1980s some ending scenes for the film ''

Stranger Than Paradise ''Stranger Than Paradise'' is a 1984 American black-and-white absurdist deadpan comedy film, co-written, directed and co-edited by Jim Jarmusch, and starring jazz musician John Lurie, former Sonic Youth drummer-turned-actor Richard Edson, and ...

'' were shot in the Melbourne area, including several plot scenes shot at the airport (as listed in the credits).

People Express Airlines People Express Airlines, stylized as PEOPLExpress, was a low-cost U.S. airline that operated from 1981 to 1987, when it was merged into Continental Airlines. The airline's headquarters was in the North Terminal (later Terminal C) of Newark ...

started nonstops to Newark, Baltimore, Columbus and Buffalo, New York in spring 1982 with Boeing 737 jets. They eventually scaled back to just nonstops to Newark and ended service to MLB in 1986. Delta Air Lines started nonstops to Atlanta in 1983 with DC-9s and upgraded to Boeing 737s and MD-80s. The Authority operated a recreational vehicle site, "Port O' Call". This was closed and the tenants evicted in 2003. The intent was to use the property for commercial development. The Melbourne Airport Authority operates Tropical Haven (formerly Trailer Haven), a 760-site manufactured home park.Baumann, Christine Selvagg
Sanford Airport eyeing retail development
''Orlando Business Journal'', bizjournals.com/orlando, January 31, 2005

Development since the 2010s

In 2010 the airport had non-stop flights to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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 List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

and regional partner

Atlantic Southeast Airlines Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) was a regional U.S. airline based in the A-Tech Center in College Park, Georgia, flying to 144 destinations as a Delta Connection carrier on behalf of Delta Air Lines via a code sharing agreement and, as of ...

, as well as non-stops to

Charlotte Douglas International Airport Charlotte Douglas International Airport ( IATA: CLT, ICAO: KCLT, FAA LID: CLT), typically referred to as Charlotte Douglas, Douglas Airport, or simply CLT, is an international airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, located roughly six miles we ...

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called ...

' regional subsidiary

PSA Airlines PSA Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered at Dayton International Airport in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Air ...

. These flights continue on Delta and American. Delta used to fly non-stop from Melbourne to its hubs in Cincinnati, New York-JFK and New York-La Guardia, and to Washington-Dulles and Washington-Reagan; all of this was discontinued.

USA3000 Airlines Brendan Airways, LLC, doing business as USA3000 Airlines, was a U.S. airline headquartered in Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It operated both scheduled and charter service with a fleet of five Airbus A320 aircraft. The airli ...

briefly served Melbourne with flights to Baltimore/Washington.

Presidential Airways (scheduled) Presidential Airways was an airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia. It was founded in 1985 by Harold J. (Hap) Pareti, formerly an officer at People Express Airlines, known ...

had nonstop flights to Daytona Beach and Washington, DC (Dulles) with

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

s and

BAE-146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...

Jets. American Airlines served Melbourne with flights to Raleigh/Durham on MD-80 jets and Continental flew to Newark-Liberty with 727 and 737 aircraft.

Direct Air Southern Sky Air Tours, d/b/a Direct Air was an airline business based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States. Direct Air started in 2007 and leased aircraft with charter airlines. Its main base was Myrtle Beach International Airport. Dire ...

flew to

Niagara Falls, NY Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and named after the famed ...

and

Punta Gorda, Fl , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = , image_skyline = Punta Gorda City Hall.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Punta Gorda City Hall , image_fla ...

with 737 and

McDonnell Douglas MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gene ...

Jets. Elite Airways began operating at the airport in 2014 with flights to

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 Mid-Atlantic (United States), Eastern United States, loc ...

. In 2015, there were an estimated 15,000 paid attendees to the annual air show over a two-day weekend. The airport's first scheduled international service was announced by

Porter Airlines Porter Airlines (stylized in all lowercase as porter) is a regional airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Porter Aviation Holdings, formerly known as REGCO Holdin ...

in September 2015 to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

's island airport. The airline discontinued service to the airport in 2019. In 2015, the airport changed its name to "Orlando Melbourne International Airport". Airport and local tourism officials wanted to brand the airport as a less-congested alternative to Orlando's two airports. They also believed it would attract visitors who wanted to see

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

, Cape Canaveral, and the area's beaches. The airport is located approximately southeast of the City of Orlando. In 2017, a $20 million upgrade was proposed for the airport, 90 percent coming from FAA funds, almost $1 million from

FDOT The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of t ...

and $1 million from the airport. In November 2019, British tour operator and airline

TUI Airways TUI Airways Limited (formerly Thomsonfly and Thomson Airways) is a British charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The airline is t ...

announced that, from 2022, they would switch their Orlando operations from their current base at Sanford to Melbourne. This announcement will see a total of 17 weekly flights to/from 8 British airports and is to bring their operations nearer to

Port Canaveral Port Canaveral is a cruise, cargo, and naval port in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world with 4.5 million cruise passengers passing through during 2016. Over 5.4 million tonnes of bulk car ...

where TUI's

Marella Cruises Marella Cruises (formerly Thomson Cruises) is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK, offering cruise holidays around Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. History The company had initially entered the cruise market in 1973, but due to rising fue ...

will sail from in coming years. As a package tour operator, this brings passengers closer to their cruises, although it has angered many TUI passengers who fly with the company to visit Orlando with

and

Universal Orlando Resort Universal Orlando Resort, commonly known as Universal Orlando or simply Universal, formerly Universal Studios Escape, is an American theme park and entertainment resort complex based in Orlando, Florida. The resort is operated by Universal Par ...

due to the extended airport transfer time. In July 2021, the airport announced a $61 million renovation and expansion, in part to prepare for the arrival of

' operations from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Facilities and aircraft

The airport covers 2,420 acres (979 ha) and has three

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

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 concrete, as ...

s: 09R/27L is 10,181 × 150 ft (3,103 × 46 m), 09L/27R is 6,000 × 150 ft (1,829 × 46 m) and 05/23 is 3,001 × 75 ft (915 × 23 m). The main terminal building is named the Edward L. Foster Air Terminal. In the year ending December 31, 2020, the airport had 103,660 aircraft operations, average 284 per day; 93% were

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 ...

, 4% scheduled commercial, 2%

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) an ...

and less than 1% military. 264 aircraft at the time were based at this airport: 186 single-engine, 42 multiengine, 26 jet, 9 helicopter, and 1 military. The Airport Museum is in the terminal building. The

Florida Institute of Technology The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. Appr ...

Research, Science and Technology Park covers about surrounded by airport tenants such as

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

, G.E Railway,

Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radio Comp ...

DRS Technologies Leonardo DRS, formerly DRS Technologies, Inc., is a US-based defense contractor. Previously traded on the NYSE, the company was purchased by the Italian firm Finmeccanica (now Leonardo S.p.A.) in October 2008. History Diagnostic/Retrieval Systems ...

, and L-3Harris, and leases property to two hospitals and one hotel. A new

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace manufacturer that produces commercial, military, executive and agricultural aircraft, and provides aeronautical services. It was founded in 1969 in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, where i ...

Business Jet Assembly Facility, intended to employ 200 workers, is under construction. Production facilities are for the

Phenom 100 The Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 is a light business jet designed and produced by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The project was announced in November 2005. On 26 July 2007, the aircraft made its first flight. It was awarded a type ...

and

300 __NOTOC__ Year 300 (Roman numerals, CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, ...

, and Legacy 450 and 500.Trautvetter, Chad.
Approval Imminent for Embraer Legacy 450/500 U.S. Plant
''AINonline'', 26 August 2014. Accessed: 4 September 2014. In 2010 two companies,

AAR Corporation AAR CORP. is a private provider of aviation services. AAR is headquartered in Wood Dale, Illinois, a Chicago suburb near O'Hare International Airport. The company employs 4,700 people worldwide. History AAR Corp was founded in 1951. I.A. Alle ...

and MidAirUSA, announced plans for facilities at the airport. The companies intended to respectively employ 225 and 300 people. MidAirUSA went bankrupt in 2015; Aeromod International took over the MidAirUSA hangar in 2016.

Public Safety

The airport is serviced by the Melbourne Airport Authority Police Department for law enforcement services, and by the Melbourne Fire Department for fire and rescue services.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

Traffic figures

Monthly passengers were at a seasonal low in September 2007 at 14,083. A high was experienced in March 2010 of 41,725. Total enplaned and deplaned passengers for 2008 numbered about 286,000.Research and Innovative Technology Administration,

Bureau of Transportation Statistics The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), part of the United States Department of Transportation, is a government office that compiles, analyzes, and publishes information on the nation's transportation systems across various modes; and striv ...

US DOT The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

Melbourne, FL: Melbourne Regional (MLB) Scheduled Services except Freight/Mail
retrieved May 10, 2009 229,000 passengers used the airport in 2009, a 24% drop from 2008. Passengers rose 70% in 2010 over 2009, as US Airways restarted service and Delta expanded.http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110303/COLUMNISTS0205/110302011/Milo-Zonka-secrets-success-March-3- The airport handled about in January 2014.

Top destinations

Airline market share

Flight schools

*F.I.T. Aviation Flight School owned by

for the College of Aeronautics. Offers flight training for fixed wing aircraft for the FAA Private Pilot Certification, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot Certification, Multi-Engine and Advanced Aircraft Training. In 1999, to match a grant for a new engineering building, Florida Tech sold nearly a third of its training fleet. *Melbourne Flight Training

Incidents at MLB

*On March 17, 1958, an

Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

(flight # unknown) on final approach to MLB struck an unmarked pile of gravel at the approach end of the runway. During the landing roll, the landing gear leg collapsed and the aircraft caught fire and burned. All 10 occupants (3 crew, 7 passengers) evacuated safely.

References

External links

Melbourne International Airport, official site

FIT Aviation
official site * * {{authority control Airports in Florida Airports in Brevard County, Florida Airports established in 1928 World War II airfields in the United States Florida Institute of Technology Transportation in Melbourne, Florida Buildings and structures in Melbourne, Florida 1928 establishments in Florida