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
ft m
6/24 6,006 1,831 Asphalt
16/34 4,800 1,463 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Size Surface
ft m
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: TTNICAO: KTTNFAA 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 aviation, corporate aviation and limited commercial service. It also serves as the official National Weather Service observation site for Trenton.

Trenton-Mercer is the sixth busiest airport in New Jersey overall (after Newark, Essex County, Teterboro, Morristown, and Atlantic City) and third busiest commercially (after Newark and Atlantic City). Passenger volume, which hovered around 90,000 in the late 1990s, has fallen in recent years, and only about 20,000 passengers traveled through the airport in 2005 according to data released by Mercer County, which owns and operates the facility.

Contents

[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] Airlines and destinations

[edit] Past Carriers

[edit] References

    [edit] External links

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