PORTLAND, Maine - The Portland International Jetport today reminded the community that starting at 8:00 AM on Monday, April 18, the primary runway will be closed for 56 days. During the time frame of April 18 - June 13 all air traffic in and out of the Jetport will be operating on the airport's secondary north-south runway. This will lead to a significant change in air traffic over Portland, South Portland, Scarborough, and Westbrook.

The project is part of the Airport's Master Plan and includes milling and overlaying the entire 7,200 foot long service as well as upgrading all of the primary runways lighting to LED. Pike Industries was awarded the contract in December. The overall project is approximately $13.7 million and is funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), State of Maine, and the Jetport. No taxpayer dollars are being spent as the program is funded out of the Airport and Airways Trust Fund which is funded through taxes and fees on airline tickets.

NO INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM

During the entire 56 day closure, the airport will not have access to the instrument landing system. This means flights may experience significant delays or cancellations if the visibility minimums are too low for visual approaches.

OVERNIGHT RUNWAY CLOSURES

For 28 days from May 16 - June 13, the airport will be closed for fixed wing aircraft from 10:30 PM to 5:45 AM to facilitate rehabilitating the runway intersection.

With morning flights being consolidated between 5:45 AM and 8:00 AM, the Jetport is recommending passengers arrive two hours before departure for flights departing before 8:00 AM between May 16 - June 13.

Arriving flights that delay to an arrival time after 10:30 PM will either cancel or delay their arrival until after 5:45 AM.

DEPARTURE PATH

Flight patterns for departing jet aircraft are to fly runway heading and climb to a minimum of 2,500 feet before making a turn. Aircraft will climb as fast as is safely possible.

ARRIVAL PATH

Flights arriving will maintain at least 2,500 feet until established on a seven mile straight in arrival. They will then descend over the final seven miles straight into the runway.

MORE INFORMATION

The Jetport has set up a dedicated website with information for the community on this project. The site is www.portlandjetport.org/runway. 

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