Trenton-Mercer Airport

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Trenton-Mercer Airport

IATA: TTN - ICAO: KTTN - FAA: TTN
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		County of Mercer
Serves		Trenton, New Jersey
Elevation AMSL		213 ft (64.9 m)
Coordinates		40°16′36″N, 074°48′48″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
6/24	6,006	1,831	Asphalt
16/34	4,800	1,463	Asphalt
Helipads
Number	Size		Surface
Number	ft	m	Surface
H1	64	20	Asphalt
H2	64	20	Asphalt
H3	64	20	Asphalt

For the airport in Mercer County, West Virginia, see Mercer County Airport (West Virginia).

Trenton-Mercer Airport (IATA: TTN, ICAO: KTTN, FAA LID: TTN), formerly known as Mercer County Airport, is a public airport located in Ewing, New Jersey, four miles (6 km) northwest of the central business district (CBD) of Trenton, a city in Mercer County, New Jersey. The airport handles general and corporate aviation.

Trenton-Mercer is the sixth busiest airport in New Jersey overall (after Newark, Essex County, Teterboro, Morristown, and Atlantic City) and was formerly the third busiest commercially (after Newark and Atlantic City). Passenger volume, which hovered around 90,000 in the late 1990s, has fallen in the 2000s, and about 20,000 passengers traveled through the airport in 2005 according to data released by Mercer County, which owns and operates the facility. As of March 2008, all commercial passenger service to and from the airport has ceased.

1 History
2 Facilities
3 Former Commercial Service
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The first airplane landed at what is now Trenton-Mercer Airport in 1907, in what was then Alfred Reeder's farm field, just off of Bear Tavern Road in Ewing. Twenty-two years later in 1929, "Skillman Airport" was officially opened to the public.

During World War II, the nearby General Motors plant ceased producing civilian vehicles and began producing TBF Avenger bombers for the United States Navy. Skillman Airport was greatly expanded to accommodate test-flights of this aircraft, and after the airport was returned to county control following the end of the war, it was renamed "Mercer County Airport".

Airport Air Traffic Control operations based in the control tower were 6 AM to Midnight during the 1980s and early 1990s. Since January 1994, tower operations have been slightly shortened to 6 AM to 10 PM.

In 1995, the airport's name was officially changed from "Mercer County Airport" to "Trenton-Mercer Airport" in an effort to more closely identify it with the city of Trenton (the capital of New Jersey and county seat of Mercer County).

On March 11, 1998, an NWS/FAA Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) became operational at the airport, replacing the human weather observers which had previously reported airport weather conditions.

For many years, the county has had plans to expand the airport and attract more commercial airlines. However, these plans have been greatly impeded due to vociferous opposition from residents of local suburban housing tracts in Ewing, Lawrence, Hopewell, Lower Makefield, Pennington and Yardley (some of which are in Pennsylvania, across the Delaware River). Most of these developments were built after the airport was first established. However, these residents see aircraft noise as detracting from their quality of life, and feel threatened by the possibility of accidents resulting from increased air traffic.

[edit] Facilities

Trenton Mercer Airport covers 1,345 acres and has two runways and three helipads:

Runway 6/24: 6,006 x 150 ft. (1,831 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
Runway 16/34: 4,800 x 150 ft. (1,463 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
Helipad H1: 64 x 64 ft. (20 x 20 m), Surface: Asphalt
Helipad H2: 64 x 64 ft. (20 x 20 m), Surface: Asphalt
Helipad H3: 64 x 64 ft. (20 x 20 m), Surface: Asphalt

[edit] Former Commercial Service

In the Mid to Late 1990s Eastwind Airlines operated a hub out of Trenton to Florida and Virginia as well as airports in Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. The airline flew from Philadelphia as an alternitave for a short time too. This was one of the only times Trenton-Mercer saw scheduled jet service from its short runways with 737-200 and 737-700 aircraft.
From 1998 until 2003 Shuttle America operated a scheduled business commuter service to airports in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and North Carolina. The airline flew 50 seat Dash 8-311 turboprops and had all its aircraft stocked with in-flight service items when stopping in Trenton. The airline ceased operations at TTN after a codeshare service with US Airways drew customers to nearby Philadelphia from Trenton.
In 2006 and 2007 Comair flew to both Atlanta and Boston from Trenton on behalf of Delta Connection using CRJ-200 aircraft. After a few months, Big Sky Airlines took over the Boston service flying Beech 1900 equipment. The service ended in early January, 2008.
From May 2000 until February 2008, Boston-Maine Airways operated a flight known as the Pan Am Clipper Connection between Trenton-Mercer Airport and Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts. The flight was terminated when Boston-Maine Airways ceased operating on February 28, 2008.