Martha's Vineyard Airport

Martha's Vineyard Airport is a public airport located in the middle of the island of Martha's Vineyard, three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Vineyard Haven, in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. This airport is owned by Dukes County and lies on the border between the towns of West Tisbury and Edgartown.

It is the largest of three airports and the only one on the island served by airlines. In addition to service from six commercial airlines, it is used by a significant number of general aviation aircraft. The other airports on the Island are Katama Airpark and Trade Wind Airport.

The airport identifier MVY has entered into general use as an abbreviation for the island of Martha's Vineyard and is often used for non-aviation purposes.

Terminal and facilities


Martha's Vineyard Airport covers an area of 688 acre and has two asphalt runways:


 * Runway 6/24: 5,504 x 100 ft (1,678 x 30 m), ILS/DME equipped, with approved GPS approaches
 * Runway 15/33: 3,297 x 75 ft (1,005 x 23 m), has approved GPS approaches.

For the 12-month period ending March 31, 2017, the airport had 40,555 aircraft operations, an average of 111 per day: 53% general aviation, 43% air taxi, 3% commercial, and <1% military. In November 2017, there were 72 aircraft based at this airport: 59 single engine, 12 multi-engine, and 1 helicopter. The terminal has a restaurant, passenger holding areas, check-in desks, and a small luggage claim. The ramp has the ability to hold up to 50 aircraft with about 15 spots reserved for commercial aviation. The air traffic control tower is open from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm from May 15 - October 31, and from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm from November 1 to May 14.

The airport apron for commercial aircraft has one parking stand which has the capacity for seven Cessna 402 or Tecnam P2012 aircraft, mainly operated by Cape Air and Nantucket Airlines. There are also five larger parking stands for JetBlue Embraer 190 or A220-300 aircraft, American Eagle Airlines CRJ-200/CRJ-700/CRJ-900, Embraer 175 regional jets, and American Airbus A319, Delta Connection CRJ-200/CRJ-700/CRJ-900, Embraer 175 regional jets, and Delta Airbus A319, and Elite Airways CRJ-200/CRJ-700/CRJ-900.

During the summer, a seasonal tent is added to the airport where all TSA checked passengers will wait for flights, as the terminal does not have a permanent waiting area. The tent has two gates for all airlines and can seat up to 150 people. A small baggage claim is located on the left of the terminal, which is used for Cape Air year-round and JetBlue during summer months; other airlines have baggage located at the side of the aircraft due to the small capacity of the baggage claim.

Operations
Along with the TSA, the West Tisbury Police Department is in charge of the security of the airport, and the ARFF department is staffed by 10 full-time firefighters. The airport currently operates several fully functional emergency response vehicles.

History


The airfield was built in 1942 as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Martha's Vineyard (NAAF Martha's Vineyard) to support the training of naval aviators before their deployment to aircraft carriers in the Pacific Theater. Thousands of men received six weeks of intensive training there. The installation was renamed "Naval Auxiliary Air Station Martha's Vineyard" in 1945, placed in caretaker status in 1946, and ultimately transferred to Dukes County in 1959.

The new terminal building, constructed in 2001, replaced an older wooden structure that was the original base operations building. Historical photos and memorabilia are mounted on the main hall's western wall near the restaurant entrance, and tell the story of the Navy squadrons posted there during the war.

Major construction was made in the airport during the 21st century. One major project was to shift 200 ft of runway 6 - 24 and renovate taxiways to allow jets such as ERJ-190 and CRJ-200 to operate at the airport. The airport also renovated their commercial ramp, adding one spot for JetBlue ERJ-190, and Delta Airline ERJ-145 and CRJ-200. They also renovated taxiways; they added a tent on the terminal as they do not have a terminal building prepared for their demand.

Over the years, American Airline stopped using their CRJ-200/CRJ-700/CRJ-900 to Martha's Vineyard because of demand, and started using their ERJ-175 operated by Republic Airways. The airport renovated its ramp again in 2018, adding five spots jets to Airbus A220. In 2020 Delta airline switched using their CRJ-200/CRJ-700/CRJ-900 to ERJ-175 operated by Republic Airways.

In 2017 a new firefighter department building was built next to the terminal building, replacing the old naval building.

The airport also renovated and reconstructed its main runway 6 - 24 in 2018–2019; the project cost around $10 million, including adding NO TAXI islands around the ramp. The runway was done and reopened in May 2019 with a Cape Air flight from Boston Logan to be the first aircraft to touch the new runway. In 2020 the airport repaved some areas on the ramp and added more markings.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the airport saw a dramatic decline in passengers, with only 15,000 people passing through their doors. American and Delta airlines resumed service in late June with their schedules operating by half of 2019. JetBlue resumed service back in July, but only with a concise schedule. This was the most challenging year for the airport, but demand increased in late 2020 and early 2021.

2021 was the busiest year thus far for the airport, as it had 65,992 passengers.

In 2022, Elite Airways pulled out of Martha's Vineyard and left the airport with a space for a new airline, which still no airlines have any interest in. In January American Airlines announced that it would begin seasonal service between the island and Chicago; later, they changed their summer schedule and added more flights to Washington D.C. In March 2022 Delta Airlines announced they would make twice-daily departures to John F. Kennedy International Airport and one daily departure to La Guardia Airport.

Later, JetBlue reduced their summer schedule to the island to about 15% due to pilot shortage, which postponed their Newark route to resume after Labor Day and cut some flights to John F. Kennedy International Airport. As a result, JetBlue was scheduled to only operate five times daily during the 2022 summer season.

The 2022 summer season at MVY was the busiest regarding the number of passengers. Delta Airlines increased their schedule to operate four times daily on the 76 seats ERJ-175; they also extended their season until October 10 from flights to La Guardia Airport. All other airlines were operating at the same schedule level as 2021 except for American Airlines, which increased their frequency to DCA airport up to fifteen times weekly and added a Saturday service to Chicago.

2023 was the airport's busiest year in history; the airport had an average of 80,000 passengers at the airport. Even though the airport had fewer planes coming to it, all commercial flights were at total capacity daily. The airport administration team said that the airport probably will not see the number of passengers increase due to the small terminal and its facility.

In 2024, JetBlue discontinued their flights to White Plains due to low demand. In the 2023 season, there were 7,200 passengers to White Plains. Tradewind Aviation will be the only airline to serve this destination. Also in 2024, American Airlines announced that they will return flights to La Guardia Airport daily from June to September. JetBlue will also now serve daily flights to Washington–National, increasing capacity from the 2023 season, which used to operate only Fridays - Sundays.

Still, the airport has space for one more airline since Elite Airways left the airport market in 2022. The community of Martha's Vineyard hopes that either United Airlines or Breeze Airways will fill the cap and introduce flights to White Plains and Newark, which would increase MVY market to NYC City.

Expansion
In 2021, the airport created a Capital Improvement Plan that cites the airport's significant problems during the peak summer months. The airport plans to renovate taxiways and the southeast and southwest ramps with new parking for aircraft. The airport is also considering expanding those ramps to accommodate more general aviation aircraft. In addition, the airport is working to become 95% carbon-free in the future, adding electric chargers for the new Cape Air Eviation Alice aircraft.

The airport will create new hangars for aircraft maintenance and expand its terminal to accommodate the high summer demand.

Terminal
Martha's Vineyard Airport Terminal has one of the most miniature terminals in Massachusetts, and it contains two gates, a restaurant, a ticket area, bathrooms, and baggage claim. During the summer months, the secure room is an outdoor tent where all secure passengers wait for flights. The TSA at MVY only contains one area to screen all passengers simultaneously. The ticket area contains about 12: two for JetBlue, two for Delta Airline, two for American Airlines, four for Cape Air, and two for any future airlines. The baggage claim is on the terminal's right side, near the car rental area. The restaurant and the management building are located on the left side of the terminal. The restaurant is located before the TSA, so there is no place for food after the TSA screening. Part of the building has pictures and airplane models of the airport in WWII.



Airlines and destinations
American Eagle operates seasonally from June till September using their E175; American Eagle can operate up to 5x a day out of MVY.

Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines operates the Cessna 402 and Tecnam P2012. They operate year-round, with some days operating 40 times a day at the airport in the summer season and others operating 10 to 15 times a day in the winter.

Delta Connection operates E175/E170 and Bombardier CRJ900 regional jets to both New York–Kennedy and New York–LaGuardia. They operate seasonally from around Memorial Day until late October.

JetBlue operates the E190 to Martha's Vineyard; JetBlue can operate up to 6x daily on peak season and 4x daily during the off-season. JetBlue will deploy its A220-300 beginning May 23, 2024.

Tradewind Aviation operates the PC-12 into Martha's Vineyard. They operate 15 times a day in summer and five times or more during winter.

Cargo
FedEx Feeder offers a year-round flight from Providence, during summer months cargo flight can go up to 5 times a day and one time a day in the winter, all cargo continue to their FedEx facility at the airport and then into their trucks for delivery.

Cape Air offers cargo flights to Boston and Hyannis year-round and adds seasonal cargo flight to New Bedford. Cape Air cargo is dropped off in terminal C on Cape Air ticker area in Boston or in the main terminal ticket area in MVY for Cape Air.

Historical airline service
Northeast Airlines served Martha's Vineyard beginning in August 1944, when it acquired Mayflower Airlines. By the 1950s it was the dominant airline at the airport. Air New England served MVY from the 1970s until 1981; Provincetown-Boston Airline (PBA), operating as a feeder for Eastern Airlines, served MVY in the 1980s. Bridgeport-based Atlantic Air served MVY in the mid-1980s before merging into Business Express Airlines, which continued service to MVY under the Delta Connection brand. Other historical carriers at MVY included Bar Harbor Airlines, Brockway Air, Catskill Airways, Edgartown Air, Executive Airlines, Express Air, Gull Air, Holiday Airlines, Island Airlines, New Haven Airlines, New York Air, NorEast, Northern Airlines, Spectrum Airlines and Trans East Airlines.

Accidents and incidents

 * On January 30, 2001, a Cape Air pilot and his only passenger were injured when a Cessna 402C crashed just short of the Martha's Vineyard Airport on a flight from T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island.
 * On September 26, 2008, a repositioning flight with no passengers on board departed Martha's Vineyard at 8:05 pm en route to Boston. Shortly after takeoff from runway 33, the plane went down about two and a half miles from the airport, killing the pilot, who was the sole occupant. Prior to this date, Cape Air had maintained a fatality-free record over its 18-year history.