Bangor International Airport

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{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 220px; font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Bangor International Airport |- |align="center" colspan="4"|

The logo of Bangor International Airport

Bangor International Airport is a public airport located 3 miles (5 km) west in the city of Bangor, in Penobscot County, Maine, USA. It is owned and operated by the City of Bangor and was formerly Dow Air Force Base. The airport possesses a single runway that is 11,439 ft (3486 m) long and 200 ft (60 m) wide. Bangor International Airport is also the home of an Air National Guard base.

The Airport is operated as an "enterprise fund", which means that the expense of operating BGR comes from Airport revenue. Revenues are generated by air service operations, resident aviation related industrial companies, real estate, cargo, international charter flights, and general aviation traffic. The airport serves the residents of central, eastern, and northern Maine as well as parts of Canada. BGR is the airport's official designation. The airport is one of three international airports in the state of Maine.

Contents

1 History

1.1 Diversion Destination
1.2 Current Service

2 Airlines and destinations

2.1 International arrivals (Troop and/or charter planes)
2.2 Air cargo operators and destinations

3 Ground transportation
4 In fiction
5 References
6 External links

History

Bangor International Airport is on the site of the former Dow Air Force Base. Dow Air Force Base had transient aircraft operations as early as 1946, with planes of varying sizes arriving and departing the airport. The base was known for its 11,439 foot (3,487 m) runway and the B-52 bombers that were stationed there from 1960 untill 1968, when the base closed and became Bangor International Airport. The base still has its fair share of internationally arriving fighter jets and military transport aircraft. The airfield does have a regular fleet of Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers based at Bangor. Some of the other military aircraft that regularly come to the airport are McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender's and Boeing C-17 Globemasters. Military charters flown by airlines such as World Airways still often make stops in Bangor, with aircraft such as the Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar taking on fuel and supplies for trans-atlantic crossings.

Diversion Destination

The airport is the first major American airport encountered by airliners approaching the United States from the east as well as the last major airport for airliners heading towards Europe. Coupled with a runway that is more than two miles (3.2 km) long and an uncluttered airspace, the airport has been a favorite for airplanes diverted due to adverse weather conditions at the destination airport, or to unruly passengers. Historically, the airport also benefited from its location by serving as a fuel stop for trans-atlantic flights which did not have the range to complete their flights to their destinations in the US or Europe.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, Bangor International Airport has often been used as a diversion point for airplanes approaching the United States from Europe which require diversion from their flight plan for security purposes, including those which may contain passengers on the Transportation Security Administration's no-fly list. In May 2001, Bangor had an occasion to handle two such flights in the span of four hours. A Britannia Airways Boeing 767, flying from Manchester, England to New Orleans, Louisiana, landed at Bangor on a Friday about noon. Four hours later, a British Airways Boeing 747, flying from London Heathrow Airport to Mexico City, also landed at Bangor. Subsequent changes to the methodology of the lists and enforcement by the airlines have since rendered future such occurrences an improbability.

Because of the length of the runway, BGR is one of several alternate landing sights east of the Mississippi for the Space Shuttle.

Current Service

Bangor International Airport is not only an airport where diversions are made, but since Operation Iraqi Freedom, Bangor has been busy with transcontinental and transatlantic flights. Many of these flights are military charter flights making refueling stops. Once in Bangor, the plane will often disembark military passengers, refuel, reload the troops, and take off to air bases throughout the U.S. Flights are often greeted by a large group of patriotic citizens, including many veterans, making each military group on their way home from or over to Iraq, feel a sense of appreciation, pride, and thankfulness from the people of the United States.

Bangor also sees a number of scheduled airline flights, flown by regional jets to hub destinations throughout the United States. The airport underwent a significant evolution in domestic air service starting in the late 90s and continuing through present day, going from 369,000 passengers in 2001 to over 480,000 in 2005, ending 2005 with a 25% increase over the previous 5 years. BGR's domestic air service is on an upward swing. In June of 2006, Delta Airlines announced it would be flying a route from Bangor to Atlanta on a CRJ-700, making it the largest scheduled aircraft (although much smaller than the unscheduled aircraft the airport often hosts) to fly to the airport. Atlanta is the third destination added since 2003. Continous efforts are being made to attract a low cost carrier and rising passenger figures will see it come to fruition in the very near future.

Airlines and destinations

American Airlines
* American Eagle (Boston, New York-LaGuardia)
Continental Airlines
* Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines (Newark)
Delta Air Lines
* Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Atlanta)
* Delta Connection operated by Comair (Boston, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky)
Northwest Airlines
* Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Detroit, (seasonal)Minneapolis)
US Airways
* US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin (Philadelphia)
* US Airways Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines ((seasonal) New York-LaGuardia)

International arrivals (Troop and/or charter planes)

Air cargo operators and destinations

Wiggins Airways (Portland)
Air Now (Operates as Business Airfreight) (Portland, Presque Isle)

Ground transportation

Bangor International Airport is located off I-95. The airport is served by local taxi and limousine services as well as various rental car companies. The Bangor Area Transit provides bus service between the airport and the surrounding region.

In fiction

Bangor International Airport was the main ground setting for filming of Stephen King's book The Langoliers, which was made into a two-part television mini-series.

References

Goo, Sara Kehaulani (2004-10-17). [Bangor Is Used to Surprise Landings. Washington Post]. May 22, 2005.
[Bangor ANGB (2005-04-26). GlobalSecurity.org]. May 23, 2005.
[FlyBangor.com].
[Maine airport plays key role for no-fly diverted flights (2005-05-20). USA Today]. May 22, 2005.

External links

[Bangor International Airport] (official site)
Resources for this airport:
* AirNav [airport information for KBGR]
* FlightAware [airport information] and [live flight tracker]
* NOAA/NWS [current] and [historical] weather observations
* SkyVector [aeronautical chart for KBGR]
* FAA [current BGR delay information]
[Maps and aerial photos]
* WikiSatellite view at [WikiMapia]
* Street map from [MapQuest] or [Google Local]
* Topographic map from [TopoZone]
* Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
* Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Microsoft Virtual Earth]

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