Manassas Regional Airport (Harry P. Davis Field) is five miles southwest of the center of Manassas. Manassas Regional Airport is the largest regional airport in Virginia, and it is located from

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History

An airport for Manassas was proposed in 1930, when the mayor was Harry P. Davis. It was built in 1931 on along

Virginia Route 234 Virginia State Route 234 (SR 234) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. It runs from U.S. Route 1 in Virginia, U.S. Route 1 near Dumfries, Virginia, Dumfries via Independent Hill, Virginia, Independent Hill as Dumfries Road, a ...

, in the area now known as Manaport Shopping Center. Originally owned privately, the Town of Manassas bought the airport in 1945. Due to airport activity and nearby housing development, the airport moved to its current location in 1964. The new airport opened with a single paved runway. In 1992, the city purchased a

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

from Centennial Airport near

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

and reassembled it at Manassas Regional Airport. A new terminal was built in 1996. The airport saw commercial airline service by Colgan Airways in the 1970s and 1980s with flights to the

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 ...

. Colgan was based at the Manassas airport and flew

Beechcraft 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...

and

Beechcraft 1900 The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...

commuter aircraft. From late 1985 through early 1987 Colgan teamed up with

New York Air New York Air was a low-cost U.S. airline owned by Texas Air Corporation and based at Hangar 5 at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, Queens, New York. It ceased operations on February 1, 1987, in a merger with Continental Airlines. New York Air ...

and was known as New York Air Connection providing feeder flights for the larger carrier. In early 1987 New York Air merged into

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...

and Colgan operated as a

Continental Express Continental Express was the operating brand name used by a number of independently owned regional airlines providing commuter airliner and regional jet feeder service under agreement with Continental Airlines. In 2012 at the time of the merger be ...

feeder carrier however service to Manassas ended a short time later. Colgan returned to Manassas for a period of time in the mid 1990s operating under their own brand and providing flights to Washington Dulles.

Facilities

The airport covers at an elevation of 192 feet (59 m). It has two

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runways: 16L/34R is 6,200 x 100 feet (1,737 x 30 m) and 16R/34L is 3,715 x 75 feet (1,132 x 29 m).FAA In the year ending December 2011 the airport had 85,000 aircraft operations, average 236 per day: 98%

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 ...

, 1%

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 1% military. 401 aircraft were then based at this airport: 78% single-engine, 10% multi-engine, 7% jet and 5% helicopter. Manassas houses 26 businesses operating onsite ranging from maintenance, flight schools, aircraft charter, and avionics. APP Jet Center and Chantilly Air are the airport's two fixed base operators with Chantilly Air opening in March, 2021. Dulles Aviation had previously ran the 1st FBO at the airport from the 1980s until closing its doors in May 2019 and was responsible for a lot of the airport's growth.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20150209203757/http://www.aviationacrossamerica.com/manassas-regional-airport-celebrates-50-years/
Manassas Regional Airport
at City of Manassas website
Bussmann Aviation
* *
{{authority control Airports in Virginia Transportation in Prince William County, Virginia Buildings and structures in Manassas, Virginia 1931 establishments in Virginia Airports established in 1931 1964 establishments in Virginia Airports established in 1964

History

Facilities

See also

References

External links