Melbourne International Airport - History

History

Melbourne International Airport began in 1928 when a Pitcairn Aircraft landed on a cow pasture strip north of Kissimmee Highway.

Airmail service commenced in late 1928 when the airport was designated a fueling stop. In 1933, the City of Melbourne acquired 160 acres (65 ha) west of Indian River Bluff to develop as a new location for the airport, which was further developed and operated as Naval Air Station Melbourne during World War II.

Returned to the city as a Surplus Property Airport after the War, Melbourne Airport was deeded to the city in 1947. It was operated as a municipal airport until 1967 at which time the city created the Melbourne Airport Authority to plan, operate, maintain, and develop the airport.

In January 1951 the airport had runways 4, 9, 13, and 16, all 4,000 to 4,300 feet (1,200 to 1,300 m) long.

Scheduled passenger airline service began in 1953. In April of 1957, the Official Airline Guide (OAG) listed four departures operated by Eastern Airlines with Martin 4-0-4 twin prop airliner service to Vero Beach, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville.

National Airlines arrived in 1959 with Douglas DC-6B prop airliner service. It scheduled the first jet flights in 1963. According to this airline's timetables in May of 1964 and also in April of 1967, National was operating Douglas DC-8 jetliner service on a direct, no change of plane transcontinental route to and from Houston and Los Angeles. In 1964, the DC-8 westbound flight routing was Miami-Melbourne-New Orleans-Houston-Los Angeles with an eastbound flight routing of Los Angeles-Houston-Melbourne-Miami.

In 1969, National was flying Los Angeles-Tampa-Melbourne-Miami with a DC-8 jetliner. Houston and Los Angeles were the locations of major aerospace activity associated with the NASA space program at the time as was Melbourne due to its close proximity to the NASA Kennedy Space Center. National also operated Lockheed L-188 Electra II turboprop service from the airport in the mid 1960's. By July of 1974, National was still operating direct, no change of plane service to California with a routing of Miami-Melbourne-Tampa-New Orleans-Los Angeles-San Diego flown with a Boeing 727-200 jetliner. At this same time, the airline was also operating direct Boeing 727-200 jet service from both Houston and New Orleans to Melbourne. However, by May of 1979, National operated one flight a day from Melbourne with Boeing 727-200 service to Tampa.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the airport also had scheduled airline service operated by Eastern Airlines, which utilized Boeing 727 and Douglas DC-9 jetliners as well as Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop aircraft on flights serving Melbourne. Eastern was also cognizant of the proximity of Melbourne to the NASA Kennedy Space Center and introduced new air services accordingly. In June of 1967, Eastern announced a new route they called "The Space Corridor" which introduced service from Melbourne to three important aerospace centers that were involved with the NASA space program at the time, being Huntsville, AL, St. Louis and Seattle. Eastern's "Space Corridor" service featured a daily flight with a Melbourne-Orlando-Huntsville-St. Louis-Seattle routing that was operated with a Boeing 727-100. Also according to the airline's timetable in June of 1967, Eastern was flying nonstop jet service from Melbourne to Atlanta, Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale, and also operated direct, no change of plane jet service to New York City (JFK Airport), Washington, D.C. (Dulles Airport), Boston and Miami. And in February of 1976, Eastern was flying direct, no change of plane service from Los Angeles to Melbourne with one intermediate stop in Atlanta that was flown with a Boeing 727-100. However, minimal customers and the effects of airline deregulation in 1978 led to Eastern eventually discontinuing all service from Melbourne.

In the early 1980s filmmaker Jim Jarmusch shot some ending scenes for his award-winning film Stranger Than Paradise in the Melbourne area. This included several important plot scenes shot at the "Melbourne Regional Airport" (as listed in the credits).

The Authority operated a recreational vehicle site, "Port O' Call." This was closed and the tenants evicted in 2003. The intent was to use the property for commercial development.

The Melbourne Airport Authority operates Tropical Haven (formerly Trailer Haven), a 759-site manufactured home park.

As of 2010, the airport had non-stop service to Atlanta via Delta Air Lines and its regional partner Atlantic Southeast Airlines, as well as non-stop service to Charlotte Douglas International Airport via US Airways' regional subsidiary PSA Airlines. In the past, Delta has flown non-stop from Melbourne to its hubs in Cincinnati, New York-JFK and New York-La Guardia, as well as operating point-to-point services to Washington-Dulles and Washington-Reagan; however, all of this service was discontinued. USA3000 Airlines also briefly served Melbourne with flights to Baltimore/Washington. American Airlines served Melbourne with flights to Raleigh/Durham and Continental served the airport as well with service to Newark-Liberty. In addition, Direct Air operated flights to Niagara Falls.