It’s official now, Manchester Airport (MHT) has been renamed Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. I think this renaming took a lot of people, including myself, by surprise. If anything it seems New Hampshirites are usually quick to draw a distinction between the Granite State and anything from the land to the south where the Massholes dwell. Also, there is a lot of pride locally in the airport having the Manchester name, as it is a great airport that is a refreshing alternative to Logan and other big hassle airports.
Personally I would rather keep the name Manchester Airport, but I have to admit it’s an outside-the-box stroke of marketing genius on the part of Airport Director Kevin Dillon. Research showed that in 15 major cities out west, only 3 percent of travelers surveyed ever heard of Manchester Airport, while 93 percent heard of Boston and 76% of them knew that it was located in the State of Massachusetts. By putting the “Boston” in the name that problem is automatically fixed and and all of a sudden millions of travelers who are headed to the Boston metropolitan area will instantly know they can consider ManBo airport as an option now. While I am sure there is going to be some resentment about this name change at first, it’s really a pretty damn good marketing move!
Now if we could only get JetBlue in here.
