Manchester Boston Regional Airport

Continent: North America

Country: United States

Region: New Hampshire

Manchester-Boston Regional Airport
Location	Manchester, New Hampshire
IATA code	MHT
ICAO code	KMHT
Airport type	Commercial
Website	http://www.flymanchester.com
Overview map	Google Maps
Communications
Tower	121.3
Ground	121.9
Clearance	135.9
Approach
ATIS	119.55

Manchester-Boston Regional Airport is the fourth-largest airport in New England and is located about 3 miles south of the city.

Official Spotting Locations

Observation Deck

There is an observation deck within the Airport terminal before the security checkpoints on the second floor. The observation deck has a perfect view of Runway 35/17 when it is in use. You can also see the gates. Gates 11-15 serve Southwest, Gate 10 is usually never in use, while Gates 9-7 houses American Airlines (American Eagle), and gates 6-4 are used by Delta and Delta Connection. Gate 3 is also visible, but is not seen with any airline using it. You also have a great view of the cargo apron, where FedEx planes are, and you will also be able to see the UPS planes located across from gates 3-1.

Aviation Museum of NH

The aviation museum gives a perfect opportunity to see planes using Runway 35/17, and is also great to view aircraft very close when using taxiway Hotel, via Echo. There is a fence that can obstruct the view of aircraft taxiing. You can go near the fence, but be wary of passing security cars as they may stop and ask you to back away from the fence, though this is extremely rare, as they will usually just pass without any problems.

Other Spotting Locations

Aviation Museum

There is a small parking lot at the Aviation Museum, located at the end of Kelly Ave. It offers a view at the terminal and the approach of runway 35 if in use. You need a ladder because of the high fence and the taxiway A which is lower as the runway.

Regular Traffic

Morning Rush hour

The Morning rush hour lasts from 5AM to 10PM, where most of the flights will leave and arrive, and where you will catch the heavies departing (Fedex with the 767-200F, A310F, and 757-200F, and UPS with the 762F, A310F, and 752F). Southwest will mostly depart from these hours first. Then Amercian, Delta, and lastly United Airlines, though this varies. It will be quiet from 11:30pm to 1:56pm, where very little action will occurs, and you may see some general aviation aircraft takeoff or land at this time. You may also see some aircraft parked at their gates in the terminal, though it's usually empty. The best spots to view the Morning rush hour is in the Observation Deck, or the Aviation Museum.

Afternoon Rush hour

The afternoon rush hour lasts from 2pm to 10pm, where the first airline to arrive, though it varies, is Southwest. Then comes American Airlines (American Eagle), United, and Delta. UPS and Fedex will arrive in between the arrivals of Southwest and Delta. This is where afternoon takeoffs also happen. The airport will again be quiet from 11pm to 5am with very little, to no activity. Most of the airliners will be at their gates, waiting for the morning rush hour to begin.

Airport Hours

The Manchester-Boston regional Airport is open 24/7. The airport has a reputation for never surrendering to bad wether, usually during blizzards, snowstorms, and Thunderstorms. The airport only closed once on 9/11.

Airport diversions

It's rare, but diversions into KMHT do occur, and it's the time when unscheduled landings occurs where spotting becomes fun. If A snow storm, or other weather related event hits the east coast (BOS, JFK, LGA, DCA, and IAD) those flights will divert into Manchester. Bangor International Airport in Bangor, ME is usually preferred because of its 11,440ft long runway, but sometimes, MHT is chosen to be used if no other option is available. The largest airplane to have been diverted into Manchetser is an Airbus A330 operated by Delta that diverted from Amsterdam.