Melbourne Orlando International Airport Started as Air Mail Fueling Stop in 1928, Now an Award-Winning Airport

began in 1928 when a Pitcairn Aircraft landed on a cow pasture strip

Melbourne Orlando International Airport is now an award-winning airport, crowned #1 Most Scenic Airport in North America.

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Melbourne Orlando International Airport (MLB) has a rich history on the Space Coast and has become a major economic driver and high-tech hub since its founding almost 100 years ago.

Melbourne Orlando International Airport is an award-winning airport, crowned #1 Most Scenic Airport in North America by PrivateFly.com, and serves as the Coastal Gateway to Central Florida.

Air service growth has spurred a major terminal project that will deliver an enhanced travel experience for all airport customers. MLB is globally recognized as an aerospace epicenter, home to Northrop Grumman, L3Harris, Embraer, Collins Aerospace, and more.

MLB’s $72 million Terminal Renovation and Expansion Project included the addition of 86,000 square feet of new facilities, including a new security checkpoint, an expanded departure area with new gates, restaurants, retail options, and furniture, an expanded international baggage claim, a new welcome center, and four sets of new restroom facilities.

The added facilities accommodated the airport’s influx of 150,000 new international travelers in its first year of operation.

MLB is a public airport that is governed by a seven-member board appointed by the Melbourne City Council and the private sector, and led by executive director Greg Donovan, A.A.E. The airport budget is part of the Melbourne municipal budget, as the airport receives no local tax dollars.

Began as an Airmail Fueling Stop

Melbourne International Airport began in 1928 when a Pitcairn Aircraft landed on a cow pasture strip north of Kissimmee Highway. Airmail service started in late 1928 when the airport was designated a fueling stop.

In 1933, the City of Melbourne acquired 160 acres west of Indian River Bluff to develop as a new airport, which was further developed and operated as Naval Air Station Melbourne during World War II.

Returned to the city as a Surplus Property Airport after the war, Melbourne Airport was deeded to the city in 1947. It was a municipal airport until 1967, when the city created the Melbourne Airport Authority to plan, operate, maintain, and develop the airport, then called Melbourne Municipal Airport.

The airport was originally named Cape Kennedy Regional Airport, and city officials changed the name to Melbourne Regional Airport in 1973 to better reflect its role.

In January 1951, the airport had runways 04/22, 09/27, 13/31, and 16/34, all listed as being 4,000 to 4,300 feet long, and scheduled airline flights began in 1953. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide listed four Eastern Airlines departures, Martin 4-0-4s to Vero Beach, Daytona Beach, and Jacksonville.

National Airlines arrived in 1959 with Douglas DC-6Bs and scheduled the first jet airliner flights in 1963: Douglas DC-8s Miami-Melbourne-New Orleans-Houston-Los Angeles and Los Angeles-Houston-Melbourne-Miami.

In 1960, Meadowlane Elementary School first opened at a Naval hospital on the airport grounds, and the school moved to West Melbourne in 1961. In 1969, a National DC-8 flew from Los Angeles to Tampa, Melbourne, and Miami. Houston and Los Angeles were part of NASA’s space program, and Melbourne was near the Kennedy Space Center.

In July 1974, a National Boeing 727 flew Miami-Melbourne-Tampa-New Orleans-Los Angeles-San Diego; National Boeing 727-200s flew direct from Houston and New Orleans to Melbourne. In May 1979, National flew one flight a day from Melbourne to Tampa on a 727-200.

Serving the ‘Space Corridor’

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Eastern Airlines Boeing 727s, Douglas DC-9s, and Lockheed Electras flew out of the airport. In June 1967, Eastern announced “The Space Corridor” from Melbourne to three centers in the space program: Huntsville, Alabama, St. Louis, and Seattle.

Eastern’s “Space Corridor” was a Melbourne-Orlando-Huntsville-St. Louis-Seattle Boeing 727-100. In June 1967, Eastern flew nonstop from Melbourne to Atlanta, Tampa, and Ft. Lauderdale, and direct to New York City (JFK Airport), Washington, D.C. (Dulles Airport), Boston, and Miami.

In February 1976, Eastern flew a 727 direct from Los Angeles to Melbourne via Atlanta; the route was dropped when the airline closed in 1991.

In the early 1980s, some ending scenes for the film Stranger Than Paradise were shot in the Melbourne area, including several plot scenes shot at the airport.

People Express Airlines started nonstop service to Newark, Baltimore, Columbus, and Buffalo, New York, in spring 1982 with Boeing 737 jets. They eventually scaled back to just nonstops to Newark and ended service to MLB in 1986.

Delta Air Lines started nonstop service to Atlanta in 1983 with DC-9s and later upgraded to Boeing 737s and MD-80s.

MLB is a thriving hub for aviation, aerospace, and high-technology businesses. The airport’s infrastructure and engineering-oriented workforce have attracted businesses that contribute more than $1 billion in annual economic impact.

Brevard County has one of the largest Foreign Trade Zones in the United States, including hubs at MLB, and offers five transportation options: space, sea, highway, rail, and air.

The area also boasts superior infrastructure for international trade, including easy access to one of the busiest seaports in the country (with roll-on/roll-off capability), an extensive freight railway system, major interstate highways, plus launch pads for commercial space access.

For additional information, visit MLBair.com or follow @FlyMLB on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

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