Aviation Overview


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Overview

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) fosters the development of an efficient air transportation system that responds to the needs of its users and the public.

NJDOT, through its Division of Aeronautics, has general oversight of 44 public use airports and almost 400 restricted use facilities, including airstrips, heliports and balloonports. The Department promotes aviation safety. It gives information about relevant forms and how to obtain them online, and explains regulations to 14,000 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) licensed aviators and the general public.

Information about aviation federal grants and Transportation Trust Fund obligated funds for aviation is found in the NJ Transportation Fact Book published regularly by the Department.

The Department keeps pilots and the public informed of aviation news and events, about individual airports and its employees answer questions daily about licensing and registration of public use airports and heliports.

Scheduled Service Airports

While the majority of New Jersey's airports strictly support the operation of general aviation aircraft, New Jersey hosts three airports which offer commercial flight operations:

Newark Liberty International Airport is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Trenton-Mercer Airport is operated by Mercer County.
Atlantic City International Airport is operated by the South Jersey Transportation Authority.

In addition, there are seven advanced service airports which support corporate/executive and private-use general aviation activities:

There are 36 other public use airports and one sea plane base that serve New Jersey's airport system.

History

Although the history of aviation in New Jersey follows the national story, the Division of Aeronautics joined NJDOT only in 1966 when the Highway Department officially became the Department of Transportation.
The State Legislature had originally created the State Department of Aviation, the State Aviation Commission and the Office of the State Director of Aviation in 1931 due to the increasing popularity of the airplane in New Jersey.

Some of the state’s earlier airports and the dates they opened are:

Bader Field, 1912
Newark Airport, 1925
Hackettstown Airport, 1935
Lincoln Park Airport, 1938
Caldwell-Wright (Essex) Airport, 1941.

In 1948 the Legislature transferred the Department of Aviation from a stand-alone department to a part of the Department of Conservation and Economic Development.

By 1950 there were 82 public use and general aviation airports in the state.

Today there are 44 public use airports in New Jersey that base about 4,700 aircraft.


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Last Updated: January 13, 2010