March 20, 2023
March 6, 2023
February 20, 2023
February 6, 2023
Brief History of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport
The Buffalo Niagara International Airport is an airport located in the United States, specifically in Cheektowaga, New York City. It has been named after the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan Area – the second-largest metropolitan area in the New York state.
This airport caters commercial flights including private charter flights. It serves Buffalo, New York (18km east of Downtown Buffalo) and as well as Southern Ontario, Canada (180km southeast of Toronto). Today, this airport is considered to be one of the busiest airports in the northern portion of New York.
The Buffalo Niagara International Airport was initially known as the Buffalo Municipal Airport. It has been considered as the oldest public airports in the United States as it started its flight operations way back in the mid-1920.
In 1927, the airport’s first passenger and airmail service started and after that, a lot of improvements had happened. The WPA-built Art Deco Terminal building was constructed in the year 1938 and was finished a year after.
In 1940’s, the roadway and parkway improvements started, including the terminal’s expansion to accommodate larger numbers of flights and larger sizes of planes.
The name, Buffalo Municipal Airport was changed to Greater Buffalo International Airport in 1959. This was when the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority bought the entire airport.
After they have acquired it, a lot of other improvements have been made including the building of the West Terminal. Built to last ten years with nine gates, the construction was completed in 1971.
The addition of the West Terminal did not hinder the expansion of the original terminal. In 1977, the expansion of the east terminal was made and by that time, it was for the American Airlines and the United Airlines.
In 1982, additional two gates were opened at the West Terminal’s east end. This was for the Eastern Airlines.
In 1991, the Greater Buffalo International Airport team came up with the decision to create new buildings and terminals since they realized that renovating and expanding the terminals was no longer economical. The Greater Buffalo International Airport design group, Cannon Design, Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, and William Nicholas Bodouva worked hand in hand for the building and terminal construction. This joint venture of theirs started in the mid-1990.
The old terminals were demolished, and the new terminal with 15 gates was named as the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. The new airport started their operations on November 3, 1997.
The Buffalo-Niagara International Airport currently has 10 restaurants namely ‘The Coffee Beanery’, ‘The Anchor Bar’, ‘Labatt Blue Zone’, ‘Which Wich?’, ‘Villa Italian Kitchen’, ‘Lake Erie Grille’, ‘Freshens Energy Zone’, ‘Landmark Bar’, ‘Matties Texas Red Hots’, and ‘Checkers’.
There is only one shop in this airport, and it is named as ‘Everything ASAP’, one located near the gate 20 and one near the security.
Also, there is a store in the terminal where you can buy Buffalo-related souvenirs. The store is near the exit from the terminal of arriving passengers from either the general or private charter flights.
