Nashua Municipal Airport , also known as Boire Field, is a public airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located three miles (5 km) northwest of the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 (CBD) of Nashua

Nashua, New Hampshire

-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...

, a city in Hillsborough County

Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 380,841 people, 144,455 households, and 98,807 families residing in the county. The population density was 435 people per square mile . There were 149,961 housing units at an average density of 171 per square mile...

, New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

This general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 airport covers 392 acres (159 ha) and has one runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

. There is space for 441 aircraft located on the field. Air Traffic Control is at the airport from 7:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. It has no scheduled commercial service.

Nashua Municipal is one of the busiest airports in New England in terms of take-offs and landings due to its use for flight training by adjacent Daniel Webster College

Daniel Webster College

Daniel Webster College is a for-profit proprietary college in Nashua, New Hampshire with a professions focus.-History:The college was established in 1965 as the New England Aeronautical Institute and was associated with Boire Field...

, which maintains more than a dozen single-engine aircraft at the airport. However, the school is phasing out its pilot programs and that aspect of traffic is falling.

History

The airport dates back to 1934, when the city of Nashua bought a small existing airport, which lacked a hangar and had a grass runway. Over the next several years Nashua, with federal help, paved the 2000 feet (609.6 m) runway and put up some buildings. According to the history in the airport Web site, the hangar was constructed from bricks reused from a Nashua factory that burned in 1930 in what was known here as the Crown Hill Fire.

In 1943 it was named Boire Field, after Ensign Paul Boire, who was Nashua's first casualty in World War II.

The Nashua Airport Authority was established to oversee the airport in 1961. The New England Aeronautical Institute was founded here in 1965. The NEIA's Daniel Webster Junior College division was founded in 1967. The two schools merged in 1978 to form the current Daniel Webster College.

The control tower was built in 1972.

The airport was one of the first to operate with a Non-Federal Control Tower in the early 1990s. This type of air traffic service, called a contract tower, is common today.

Airport Services

In addition to the professional pilot flight training offered at Daniel Webster College, the airport has private flight schools offering training and certification in fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters.

Also offered from the Nashua airport is on-demand air charter. One of these providers is Infinity Aviation which operates a number of Hawker mid-size jet aircraft.

There were two FBOs or fixed base operator

Fixed base operator

A Fixed-base operator or commonly abbreviated FBO is a term developed in the United States after the passage of the Air Commerce Act of 1926...

s that provide aircraft servicing, fueling and maintenance and flight planning resources: Infinity Aviation Services and GFW Aeroservices. During the week of 3/28/11, the owner of GFW Aeroservices retired and GFW ceased operations.

The second-floor Midfield Cafe is open for breakfast and lunch from 7 AM to 2 PM. Currently (3/31/11) they are open 7 days a week.