Maryland

21 airports have been identified in the state of Maryland that have received scheduled air service in its history. Only 3 of the airports have active scheduled air service today and 9 have been abandoned. 5 airports have served Baltimore alone with only two still in existence today. 

Annapolis, Maryland

Lee Airport

38°56.5'N 076°34.0'W 4 miles Southwest

Elevation: 34 feet IATA Codes: ANP

Current: Private, General Aviation Airport

Active Service: 1946-1948

Largest Scheduled Aircraft: Bellanca Cruisair (3 passenger) 

Privately owned Lee Airport opened in 1939. Annapolis’ first and only regularly scheduled air service started on November 27, 1946 when Pan-Maryland Airways, a Maryland intrastate carrier, inaugurated service to Baltimore and to its base in Easton utilizing 3-passenger Bellanca Cruisair’s. Pan-Maryland ended its operation in mid-1948. At the time, the airport’s two runways were turf and the main runway was not paved until the 1960s. Today, the airport’s runway is 2,500 feet in length. 

Cumberland, Maryland

Cumberland Municipal Airport; Greater Cumberland Regional Airport

39°36.9'N 078°46.1'W 2 miles South

Elevation: 780 feet IATA Code: CBE

Current: Public, General Aviation Airport

Active Service: 1949-1959, 1961-1962, 1966-1990, 1991-2003

Largest Scheduled Aircraft: Douglas DC-3

Greater Cumberland Regional Airport is located in a bend in the North Branch of the Potomac River in Wiley Ford West Virginia opened in 1944. The original airport at Cumberland was a government air field at Mexico Farms which opened in 1923. This was replaced by an airport southwest of Cumberland at Pinto in 1929 which was abandoned in 1934 after the Mexico Farms Airport was upgraded by a CWA grant. The Mexico Farms Airport, located a mile south of the present airport remains in use today as a privately owned turf airfield.

Cumberland’s first air service started October 30, 1945, but was operated on a non-scheduled basis. Columbia Airlines was an intrastate airline in Maryland operating 10 passenger Boeing 247Ds. Columbia was authorized by the Maryland PSC (Public Services Commission) to operate two daily scheduled flights from Baltimore to Cumberland via Hagerstown, but due Cumberland’s airport location in West Virginia, the service would be an interstate operation which the airline did not have CAB authority to operate. Columbia’s service was inconsistent at best and ended around March of 1946. In late December of 1945, the airline announced that the addition of 5 passenger Cessna Bobcats would allow it to operate from Mexico Farms airport which IS located in Maryland hence allowing flights on a scheduled basis, but there is no evidence that this service ever started.

Scheduled commercial air service arrived on March 7, 1949 when local service carrier All American Airways started up operations. All American was renamed Allegheny Airlines in 1952 and is now part of American Airlines. Cumberland was never much of a traffic generator, typically averaging just 2 enplanements per day. Allegheny was finally authorized to suspend service which it did after February 10, 1959, just shy of its ten-year anniversary. Two years later, Algonquin Airways briefly operated flights to Washington National Airport, but the flights lasted just 3 months.

On March 15, 1966, Cumberland Air Shuttle operated by Nicholson Air Service which was based out of the airport, inaugurated two daily flights to Washington National. The airline was renamed Cumberland Airlines in April of 1969 and remained in operation for more than 2 decades before unceremoniously ceasing operations in April of 1990. During its nearly quarter century of service, the airline grew the market and averaged around 10 passenger enplanements per day, peaking at over 15 passenger enplanements during 1978. This caught the attention of US Air and they started service to Pittsburgh on June 3, 1991 with 5 daily flights to its Pittsburgh hub operated by is US Air Express affiliate using a mix of DeHavilland Twin Otters and Beechcraft 1900s. This major airline affiliated service was well received to start and the carrier averaged over 32 enplanements per day during 1993, but traffic slowly started to dwindle and the recession of the early 2000s coupled with the increased per seat costs of operating 19 passenger aircraft led to now named US Airways Express to pull out on September 8, 2001. The last airline to operate scheduled service into Cumberland was operated by Pan Am Clipper Connection with one stop flights to Baltimore stopping at Hagerstown enroute. This service was subsidized by the State of Maryland and began in December of 2001, but ended in July, 2003 when the subsidy was not renewed and Cumberland has not had scheduled service since.

Through the years, airlines have operated from three terminal buildings at the airport. The original administration building was a wood frame structure constructed in 1944 for temporary use, yet remained standing until 2008. It was remodeled in early 1949 to create a 12-foot by 14-foot space for All American Airways including a ticket counter, desk, radio transmitter, teletype for weather reports and other office functions. The building was located southwest of the airport entry road midway between the fuel farm and the T-hangars. The second terminal opened in 1970 and was constructed further back from runway 6-24, the main runway at that time. The two-story building still stands and is located just east of Steckley Road. In the late 1970s, the main runway was replaced by the current 5-23 runway, located further to the southeast. This opened up more space for landside facilities and in 2000, the third and current terminal was built in this area along the newly formed Terminal Loop.

1970 to 1998 Terminal Building Now A Restaurant - photo by J. Drew Van Horne - March 2023

Present Terminal Building Opened in 1998 - photo by J. Drew Van Horne - March 2023

Interior of 1998 Terminal Building Looking Towards Empty Airline Check-In Counters - Baggage Claim is Directly Behind the Camera - photo by J. Drew Van Horne - March 2023