Airport
The Greater Binghamton Airport (BGM) (originally Broome County Airport) has served Binghamton for six decades. Development started in 1945, due to difficult night operations at the Tri-Cities Airport in Endicott, New York during World War II. Broome County Airport opened in 1951 with a 5,600-foot main Runway 16/34, and a 5,002-foot crosswind Runway 10/28. A stark contrast to today’s 7,304 ft Runway 16/34.
In the 1950s Mohawk, Trans World Airlines, and Colonial Airlines (later Eastern Air Lines) stopped at BGM; TWA left in 1965 and Eastern left in 1969-70. Mohawk’s successors’ jets still stopped at BGM well into the 1990s. In the 1980s a commuter airline, Brockway Air, flew Beechcraft 1900s and Fokker F-27s from Broome County Airport to Syracuse, Boston, Albany, Keene, NH, Worcester, Burlington, and Rutland. At this point Deregulation in the Airline industry would remove major subsidies from airports and cause many small, short-haul airlines to merge over the coming decades.
In 2003 the airport was renamed Greater Binghamton Airport and the terminal was renovated. At this time US-Airways (later American Airlines), United Airlines, and Delta all served Binghamton until 2017, until the industry adjusted to a changing economy and Airline business model. Now only Delta serves Greater Binghamton Airport with direct service to Detroit.
Greater Binghamton Airport is constantly working on adding additional flights. With major growth in the Education and Healthcare industries within Broome County, the demand for additional service has grown. With that momentum, BGM strives to add additional airline service within the coming years. In the meantime, BGM will continue to contribute to the community through local events, such as Airshows, and 5K Runway runs.
