Coastal Carolina Regional Airport is a commercial

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

located three miles (5 km) southeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

New Bern New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...

, a city in

Craven County, North Carolina Craven County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 100,720. Its county seat is New Bern. The county was created in 1705 as Archdale Precinct from the now-extinct Bath County. It was renamed ...

, United States. EWN covers 785 acres (318 ha) of land. Coastal Carolina Regional Airport is the closest commercial airport to North Carolina's Outer Banks and Crystal Coast. The airport is the main connection to such Crystal Coast destinations as

Cape Lookout National Seashore Cape Lookout National Seashore preserves a 56-mile (90-km) long section of the Southern Outer Banks, or Crystal Coast, of North Carolina, USA, running from Ocracoke Inlet on the northeast to Beaufort Inlet on the southeast. Three undeveloped barrie ...

Cape Hatteras National Seashore Cape Hatteras National Seashore is a United States national seashore which preserves the portion of the Outer Banks of North Carolina from Bodie Island to Ocracoke Island, stretching over , and is managed by the National Park Service. Included wi ...

, the

Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating ...

Crystal Coast In North Carolina, the Crystal Coast is an 85-mile stretch of coastline that extends from the Cape Lookout National Seashore, which includes 56 miles of protected beaches, southwestward to the New River. The Crystal Coast is a popular area with ...

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point or MCAS Cherry Point (*) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located in Havelock, North Carolina, United States, in the eastern part of the state. It was built in 1941, and was commissioned in 1942 and ...

Atlantic Beach, North Carolina Atlantic Beach is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. It is one of the five communities located on Bogue Banks. The population was 1,495 at the 2010 census. History The idea of Atlantic Beach was first envisioned in the 1870 ...

, various seasonal camps including Camp Sea Gull/Seafarer and Camp Don Lee, and

Emerald Isle, North Carolina Emerald Isle is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Crystal Coast and is located entirely on Bogue Banks. The population was 3,655 at the 2010 census, but as many as 50,000 tourists each week inhabit the ar ...

. On July 10, 2008 the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

ratified a bill that allowed Craven County Regional Airport to change its name to Coastal Carolina Regional Airport. The name change became effective on August 15, 2008. It is included in the

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 m ...

(FAA)

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a non-hub primary commercial service facility.

History

The airport was previously named Craven County Regional Airport, Simmons-Nott Airport, and New Bern Regional Airport. Simmons-Nott came from North Carolina Senator

Furnifold McLendel Simmons Furnifold McLendel Simmons (January 20, 1854April 30, 1940) was an American politicians who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1887 to March 4, 1889 and U.S. senator from the state of North ...

who was present at the 1931 dedication of the new terminal. During an air performance for the dedication,

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

Joel Nott was killed. Senator Simmons required that 1stLt Nott's named be added to the airport to pay homage for the fallen military officer.Shettle(2001):40 On August 8, 1941, the Marine Corps leased the airport to become an outlying field of

and named it OLF Camp Mitchell. In the beginning of 1942, the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

used the field for anti-submarine patrols. The field was later closed for seven months during 1942 while two hard surface runways and a runway lighting system were installed. The first Marine aviation units began to arrive at the field in February 1943. Among the units to train at the field during the war was Marine Aircraft Group 34 and fighter squadrons VMF-324 and

VMF-511 Marine Fighting Squadron 511 (VMF-511) was a fighter squadron of the Marine Corps and Marine Forces Reserve during World War II and the Cold War which flew aircraft types such as the F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair, and the F-8 Crusader. They were orig ...

. In January 1944, plans were announced to expand the field. However, these plans were abandoned because the Marine Corps acquired surplus Army fields. In 2011, Coast Carolina Regional Airport hosted three Honor Flights for World War II veterans. Craven Regional Airport has previously been serviced by Midway Airlines,

American Eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlines ...

, Charter Express,

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

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 ...

, Wheeler Airline, Henson Airlines and National Airlines. Today, scheduled commercial flights tend to consist of four arrivals and four departures per day.

Terminal

Coastal Carolina Regional Airport currently has three gates for use by airlines, all of which are located on the central pier and share a common boarding area. The $17-million terminal for EWN was completed on November 5, 1999, by the LPA Group. As of June 2006, Coastal Carolina Regional has approved their 20-year master plan, which included an extension of the main runway, the runway safety area expansion, a larger noise zone, and a new control tower. Also located in the terminal are an eatery, named Triple Play Oasis Restaurant & Sports Bar, and several car rental agencies. Construction is slated to begin on a major terminal expansion in late 2022 or early 2023. The terminal project will increase the size of the facility by approximately 20% and include: new gates and dedicated airplane boarding bridges, a new terminal entrance canopy, an enhanced security screening checkpoint area, new modern restrooms, an extended baggage claim belt, an area for service animals, and many new energy efficient enhancements throughout. All are scheduled for completion by late summer 2024.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Top destinations

terminated service to EWN in July 2020.

Carrier shares

General aviation

Coastal Carolina Regional is in the top 10 of North Carolina's airports. EWN is served by American Airlines and has

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 ...

. EWN is currently looking for additional airlines to provide additional air service due to eastern North Carolina. For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2016, the airport had 35,109 aircraft operations, an average of 96 per day: 73%

, 21%

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 ...

, 5% military, and <1%

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

. In May 2017, there were 85 aircraft based at this airport: 75 single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

, , 2 jet, and 3

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 ...

. General aviation provides most of the aircraft movements at EWN. The

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, ...

s at EWN are Tidewater Air, LLC and Tradewind International. A parachute jumping school is currently seeking approval to be based at EWN. In August 2020, Coastal Carolina Regional Airport awarded a $5.8M contract to build a new Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) facility.

Accidents

*On November 20, 1966, a

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 (l ...

on a positioning flight crashed 3.1 miles (5 km) south of EWN on approach, colliding with trees and crashing into a wooded area. All three occupants were killed.

References

Books

External links

* (official site) * at

North Carolina DOT The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is responsible for building, repairing, and operating highways, bridges, and other modes of transportation, including ferries in the U.S. state of North Carolina. History The North Carolina ...

airport guide * *
{{Commercial airports in North Carolina 1931 establishments in North Carolina Airports established in 1931 Airports in North Carolina Buildings and structures in New Bern, North Carolina Transportation in Craven County, North Carolina