Manhattan Regional Airport (IATA: MHK, ICAO: KMHK, FAA LID: MHK) in Riley County, Kansas is the second-busiest commercial airport in Kansas. It is owned by the city of Manhattan, Kansas, and is about five miles southwest of downtown Manhattan. American Airlines serves the airport with five daily flights to Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The airport is also used for general aviation and for planes chartered by the military and college sports teams (the airport is four miles east of Fort Riley and eight miles southwest of Kansas State University's athletic complex).
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2013â€"2017 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).
Traffic at the airport multiplied rapidly after American Eagle began its service in August 2009. Between 2008 and 2012, Federal Aviation Administration records show that annual passenger boardings (enplanements) at the airport grew from 16,489 to more than 69,000. The most recent FAA statistics show 66,263 enplanements in 2015.
Facilities
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Manhattan Regional Airport covers 680 acres (275 ha) at an elevation of 1,066 feet (325 m).
In 2014 the airport had 23,783 aircraft operations: 78% general aviation, 15% airline, and 7% military. 46 aircraft were then based at this airport: 33 single-engine, 12 multi-engine and 1 jet.
The airport has two concrete runways: 3/21 is 7,000 by 150 feet (2,134 x 46 m) and 13/31 is 5,000 by 75 feet (1,524 x 23 m). There are five taxiways and two parking aprons; they can support aircraft as large as the Boeing 767 or C-17.
Three navigation systems and multiple lighting systems guide aircraft to the Airport. An FAA control tower and two Aircraft Rescue and Fire-Fighting (ARFF) vehicles round out the airside support. Any aircraft with 30 passenger seats or more, or over 110,000Â lb (50,000Â kg) landing weight requires prior permission from the Airport Director to land. Aircraft as large as the Boeing 767 land occasionally as charters for the military or sports teams.
Services
The first phase of the airport's new 42,000-square-foot (3,900Â m2) terminal facility opened in March 2015, housing American Airlines, Hertz Rent-a-Car, Enterprise Car Rental, and other services. The expanded facility will include two gates, an expanded TSA security checkpoint, and additional passenger circulation space. There will also be accommodations for an airport restaurant. The terminal replaces a 11,700-square-foot (1,090Â m2) terminal opened in 1997, which was demolished and replaced due to increased commercial airline traffic. The terminal is located at 5500 Skyway Drive, adjacent to the FAA control tower and FBO.
The FBO facility, next to the passenger terminal, is occupied by Kansas Air Center, which has been operating at the Manhattan airport since May 1989. It is a full service FBO, providing fuel, charter service, flight instruction, aircraft rental and management services.
An older 4,100-square-foot (380Â m2) terminal building built in 1958 is now home to the airport administrative offices. This facility is at 1725 South Airport Road, 1 mile (2Â km) east of the passenger terminal.
Heartland Aviation uses an 8,000-square-foot (700Â m2) stone maintenance hangar, constructed in 1940, next to the old terminal building for servicing and repairing aircraft. The Kansas State University Flying Club, an airport tenant for over 50 years, has office space in this facility for instruction and flight planning.
Other facilities include a fire station, 48 hangars, storage areas, a fuel farm, and an air traffic control tower.
The airport offers complimentary parking adjacent to the passenger terminal.
Airline and destinations
American Eagle operates daily flights to Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
History
On June 13, 1939, construction of Manhattan’s airport began with the planting of temporary grass runways. The facility was dedicated in November 1940. The first "Manhattan Municipal Airport" terminal was dedicated on April 19, 1953, with U.S. Senator Frank Carlson providing an address. Commercial airline flights began earlier that month.
The current commercial airline terminal opened in two phases between 2015-2016, and replaced the previous 1997 terminal. The $18 million project features three jet bridge accessible parking positions from two gates, and can accommodate aircraft as large as the Boeing 737 or Airbus A320. The new terminal has more space for airline ticketing, baggage claim, car rental, and security screening. There is also an space for an airport restaurant, however as of August 2017 a tenant for the space has not been found.
Since the 1950s a number of commercial airlines have served Manhattan Regional Airport.
Service history
- Continental Airlines
The first scheduled airline service to Manhattan was Continental Airlines, which began DC-3 flights to Wichita in April 1953. Continental's DC-3 flight ended in 1961, replaced by Central.
- Capital Air Service
Capital Air Service, Inc. (ICAO airline designator CPX), was headquartered in Manhattan from the 1960s until the company ceased flights in 1989, after having twice been grounded by the FAA for multiple safety and records keeping violations. Capital Air provided point-to-point air service to cities throughout northeastern Kansas.
During the 1970s Capital Air, operating as an air taxi service, suffered two crashes, one with fatalities. During the 1980s one of its aircraft was tipped over by a gust of wind while waiting for take off clearance, and another aircraft, a DCH-6 Twin Otter, clipped the side of a terminal building, both incidents occurring at Kansas City International Airport.
At the height of its operations Capital Air served Manhattan; Salina, KS (SLN); Topeka, KS (FOE); Lawrence, KS (LWC); and Kansas City, MO (MCI) using two 20-passenger deHavilland Canada DCH-6 Twin Otter turboprop aircraft and one or more smaller piston-engine aircraft.
- Frontier Airlines
Starting when it merged with Central Airlines in 1967, the original Frontier Airlines flew from Manhattan to Salina; Topeka (FOE); Wichita (ICT); and Kansas City on 44-seat Convair CV580s. By the early 1980s Frontier's Convairs were gone, replaced with a single daily non-stop 737 to Denver (DEN) that ended in 1982-83.
- Air Midwest
From the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, before its sale to Mesa Air Group in 1991, Wichita-based Air Midwest flew Manhattan to Salina and Kansas City on 19-passenger Fairchild Metroliner IIIs.
For several years in the mid-1980s Air Midwest was an Eastern Air Lines affiliate and flew 30-passenger Saab 340As in Eastern paint to Kansas City.
When Eastern closed its hub at Kansas City, Air Midwest sold their Saabs and signed a new codeshare agreement with the second incarnation of Braniff Airlines, which had started a small hub at MCI, and began flights to Kansas City on Fairchild Metroliner IIIs.
- Mesa Air Group
In 1991 Air Midwest was sold to the Mesa Air Group of Nevada. Subsequently, Air Midwest (a Mesa Air Group subsidiary), acting under a codeshare agreement with U.S. Airways and operating as US Airways Express, served Kansas City, Missouri from Manhattan, Kansas with three daily flights using 19-passenger Beechcraft 1900D turboprop aircraft. The service ended with Air Midwest's bankruptcy in 2008, when all Essential Air Service contracts and flights operated by Mesa were closed.
- Great Lakes Airlines
Great Lakes Airlines flew to Manhattan between March 30, 2008, and April 7, 2010, taking over after Mesa left and ending service after American Eagle announced additional expansion. There were three daily flights, most days to Kansas City, and initially two daily flights (with one stop) to Denver. The flights to Denver were later cut back to once daily. Great Lakes used Beech 1900Ds.
- Allegiant Air
Allegiant Air operated a short-lived service of twice-weekly flights between Manhattan and Phoenixâ€"Mesa Gateway Airport from November 7, 2013, to February 23, 2014.
Accidents and incidents
- On May 28, 1963, a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation operated by Standard Airways suffered a failed propeller and crash landed at the Manhattan airport. All seventy passengers and crew escaped from the plane.
- On March 16, 1980, a commuter plane departing from the Manhattan airport lost a wheel from its landing gear immediately after take-off. The plane circled the Manhattan airport for ninety minutes to burn fuel, before safely landing in Manhattan in a shower of sparks.
References
Other sources
External links
- Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK), official site
- Manhattan Regional Airport at GlobalSecurity.org
- "Airport diagram and aerial photo" (PDF). from Kansas DOT Airport Directory
- Aerial image as of October 1991 from USGS The National Map
- FAA Airport Diagram for Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK) (PDF), effective June 21, 2018
- FAA Terminal Procedures for Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK), effective June 21, 2018
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for MHK
- AirNav airport information for KMHK
- ASN accident history for MHK
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures
