Morristown Airport is in

Morris County, New Jersey Morris County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the 2020 census, the county's population was enumerated at 509,285, three miles east of downtown Morristown and 27 miles west of

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

. Operated by DM AIRPORTS, LTD, it is in the Whippany section of

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. The

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 2011–2015 called it a

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 ...

'' reliever airport''. During his presidency, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

flew into the airport on an Air Force Boeing C-32 operating as

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and us ...

during his weekend visits and summer vacations at his home at the Trump National Golf Club in

Bedminster, New Jersey Bedminster is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 8,165, reflecting a decline of 137 (−1.7%) from the 8,302 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in t ...

, which is about 24 miles southwest of the airport.

History

In 1929, it was announced that

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the activity at the field was relatively slow. In 1933, the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

provided funds for a better airport. Midway through construction, the airport ran out of money. Morristown Municipal Airport's initial purpose was to serve as the eastern hub for the

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

, but due to the

Hindenburg Disaster The ''Hindenburg'' disaster was an airship accident that occurred on May 6, 1937, in Manchester Township, New Jersey, United States. The German passenger airship LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'' caught fire and was destroyed during its attemp ...

in 1936, those plans were later scrapped. During

World War Two 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 opposing ...

, Morristown served as a primary training center for the army. The Army became such an economic advantage to the airport that the airport made enough money to purchase and install hangers by the end of the War. In 1947, the new hangars brought companies to the airport and the city of Morristown. The airport also created a significant population growth. In 1969, Judge Joseph Stamler of

New Jersey Superior Court The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts.Jeffrey S. Mandel, New Jersey Appellate Pr ...

issued a 1969 opinion in a case regarding noise from

business jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pu ...

s operating at the airport, brought by residents and governments of surrounding municipalities, in which he set a curfew limiting takeoffs and landings during overnight hours. The judge said, "the giants of industry will see the wisdom of slowing the cross-country speed of their important executives, and will take a close, concerned look at the little people of this country" who were dealing with the impact of noise and ticket prices. Like most of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

at the time, the 1960-70s became the

Jet Age The Jet Age is a period in the history of aviation defined by the advent of aircraft powered by jet turbine engines, and by the social change this brought about. Jet airliners were able to fly much higher, faster, and farther than older pisto ...

at Morristown. For Morristown, this meant the expansion of the airport to accommodate

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, jet ...

. Morristown's airport expansion meant a significant extension to its main runway from 4000ft to 5998ft, a new, state-of-the-art

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 air ...

, and an

instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

(ILS). The airport became known as "the VIP stop." Commercial air traffic became a goal for the airport but was never reached. In 2002, several hundred planes were based at the airport, making it one of the busiest

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 ...

airports in the United States.

Statistics

In the year ending August 30, 2012, the airport had 72,702 aircraft operations, an average of 199 per day: 84%

, 15%

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) ...

, 1% military and <1% airline. In November 2016, there were 194 aircraft based at this airport: 89 single-engine, 17 multi-engine, 81 jet and 7

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 attribu ...

Facilities

Morristown Airport covers at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of .

Control Tower

The first control tower at the airport went up in 1950. The airport purchased the original, retired wooden tower from

Teterboro Airport Teterboro Airport is a general aviation relief airport in the boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Runways

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 ...

5/23 is , with

High Intensity Runway Lights Runway edge lighting are used to outline the edges of runways during periods of darkness or restricted visibility conditions. These light systems are classified according to the intensity they are capable of producing: * High intensity runway l ...

(HIRL). Runway 23 has a ILS and LOC approach (

Instrument Landing System In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

), an RNAV RNP approach, and a GPS RNAV approach (

Instrument Approach In aviation, an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure (IAP) is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft operating under instrument flight rules from the beginning of the initial approach to a landi ...

). Runway 23 also has a MALSR

approach lighting system An approach lighting system (ALS) is a lighting system installed on the approach end of an airport runway and consisting of a series of lightbars, strobe lights, or a combination of the two that extends outward from the runway end. ALS usually ...

. Runway 5 has an GPS RNAV approach. Runway 5/23 is the preferred noise abatement runway for the airport. Runway 13/31 is , with Medium Intensity Runway Lights (MIRL). There are no instrument procedures for this runway.

FBOs

There are two

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 instructio ...

s (FBOs): Atlantic Aviation and Signature Flight Support. Morristown Airport is home to multiple based jet charter operators available to the public. It has four flight schools on-site: American Flyers, ATP, Certified Flyers, and NOVA Aviation. Morristown Airport also has a customs facility.

Airlines and destinations

No routes are currently operating due to the departure of

Ultimate Air Shuttle Ultimate Air Shuttle is an airline based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the operating name of Ultimate Jetcharters LLC, an FAR Part 135 air charter carrier. Ultimate Air Shuttle previously operated public charter flights on a published schedule, ser ...

, which used to fly to Cincinnati-Lunken.

Charter and Private operators

Despite not being a busy commercial airport, Morristown Municipal has a lot of private and charter operations that arrive and depart every day.

Transient Charters

Airport Based Charters

References

External links

Morristown Airport
official website
Morristown Airport (MMU)
at

New Jersey DOT The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportat ...

Airport Directory
Signature Flight Support
an
FTC FBO
the

s (FBOs)
Taxi and Car Service at Morristown Airport
Transportation
Aerial image as of March 1991
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, ...

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 prov ...

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