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In 1927 Syracuse mayor Charles Hanna felt that his city needed an airport. A location at Amboy in the town of Camillus, New York was purchased for $50,000, and by 1928, the "Syracuse City Airport at Amboy" was handling airmail. At the end of World War II the Army Air Corps leased their bomber base near Mattydale, New York to the city. On September 17, 1949, the Clarence E. Hancock Airport opened to the public in a renovated machine shop and replaced the airport at Amboy. American, Buffalo, Colonial and Robinson Airlines were the first airlines to operate at the airport, and American Airlines still does to this day.
In 1962Events January January 1 Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand January 3 Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro January 4 New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board January 8 Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is e a new terminal opened, at the site of the present-day terminals. The location allowed the airport to be directly connected to Interstate 81, which was built shortly afterwards. In 1970Events January events January 1 Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65, miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. January 1 Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC. January 12 Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. January the airport was awarded international airport status by International Civil Aviation OrganizationThe International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO , an agency of the United Nations, develops the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly, and thus renamed Syracuse Hancock International Airport.
Throughout the 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends and 19801980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. Events January-February January 1- April 1 National steel strike in United Kingdom January 1 Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession creates Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess over her younger brother January 5 Hes the airport went through several expansions to meet increasing demand. Empire AirlinesEmpire Airlines was an airline that operated regional flights in the northeastern United States from 1976 to 1985. It was later purchased by US Airways. Today, Empire Airlines is a charter and air cargo line based in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Defunct airline, which was founded in 19761976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 12 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization January 15 Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is s, made Syracuse a hub, and over two million passengers a year were using the airport. Piedmont Airlines absorbed Empire in 1986 and kept the Syracuse hub. The mid-to-late 1980s were the best years in Hancock history, with a record 3.17 million passengers using the airport in 1987, second in Upstate New York only to Buffalo, and its 253 daily flights even made it the top Upstate New York airport in terms of flights. Hub-carrier Piedmont operated the entire Terminal A for itself, operating 58 jet flights and 12 commuter flights a day in 1987 for an astounding 12 flights and hour. Terminal A was expanded that year, adding more gates, a Piedmont Presidential Club (now US Airways Club), and a larger customs area. There was even talk of building a third runway.
With USAir's purchase of Piedmont in 1989, things started going sour for Hancock International. USAir closed the Syracuse hub, and Syracuse therefore lost its advantage over other upstate airports. A final terminal expansion was completed in 1996, along with an overall overhaul and renovation, which created two separate terminal areas with individual, checkin, security, and baggage claim. USAir still maintained a large presence at the airport but slowly phased out flights throughout the 1990s, making Terminal A essentially a "ghost terminal." After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the now-renamed US Airways cut even more flights and did not renew its leases for many of its gates in Terminal A, upon which the airport essentially "boarded them up."
However, a new era began on May 7, 2001 when JetBlue inaugurated mass low-fare service to Hancock. Using the first gate of Terminal A, Gate 15, most this terminal still remains asleep. However, more and more discount carriers are following suit and servicing Syracuse. Charter airline Transmeridian Airlines began its first scheduled routes ever when it started flying six weekly flights to Orlando Sanford International Airport in 2003. It currently flies this route up to nine times a week, depending on demand, and also flies twice weekly to Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, the longest non-stop flight from Hancock. And on July 1, 2004, Independence Air began flying eight daily roundtrips to Washington Dulles International Airport. There are now 21 daily flights with a total of 964 seats from Syracuse to Washington, DC. US Airways announced on May 10, 2004 that it would increase service to Hancock, lower fares, and add seats by converting flights from turboprop to regional jet. Traffic during the first eight months 2004 is up 23 percent compared to the same period of 2003. At this rate, combined with the new service, Hancock is on track to process over two million passengers for the first time in years.
If the ambitious plans of mall developer The Pyramid Companies to build DestiNY USA, a multi-billion dollar tourism attraction which could attract millions of new visitors by air, ever become reality, then Hancock would have to be expanded again. Its current capacity is estimated at about 3.35 million passengers a year. There has even been talk of a monorail to Hancock from Syracuse University via downtown and DestiNY USA (estimated cost $750 million).
Hancock has two terminals: