Laurence G Hanscom Field Guide

Laurence G. Hanscom Field sits in Bedford, Massachusetts, about 23 km from Boston, and is the largest general aviation airport in New England. It opened on 26 June 1941 and shares its boundary with Hanscom Air Force Base. Corporate jets, flight training and charter flights make up nearly all of its traffic.

Most movements are general aviation, about 81 percent in the year to September 2021, with air taxi flights at 18 percent and military flights under 1 percent. That year the field logged 99,961 aircraft operations, well down from the peak of over 300,000 in 1970. The tower runs from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm, and Massport charges a field use fee for operations outside those hours.

There is no regular airline service. Southern Airways Express announced Nantucket flights from May 2021, the first scheduled passenger service in almost a decade. Transient aircraft are handled by three fixed base operators: Jet Aviation, Atlantic Aviation and Signature Aviation. The Civil Air Terminal houses two flight schools. Two paved runways, 11/29 at 7,011 ft and 5/23 at 5,107 ft, both take jets.