The arrival of Norwegian Air last June put Stewart on the international map
NEW YORK – Stewart International Airport near Newburgh is now going to be known as New York Stewart International Airport.
The Port Authority wants to market the facility as a New York metropolitan
Stewart and wanted to add “New York” into the name. The initial
thought was to rename it New York International at Stewart Field; however,
the Stewart family vociferously objected to that, so late Wednesday the
Port announced it has reached a consensus with the family to name the
airport New York Stewart.
The new name has the blessing of the Stewart Family. Thomas Hafer, the grandson of airport benefactor Thomas “Archie” Stewart, was glad to see the family name retained.
“I think that the Port Authority has acted wisely and appropriately in the name change issue and also in some of the other measures they are going to be adopting,” Hafer said. “We think that this will be a very positive set of developments for the airport and for the region as a whole.”
In the 1930, Thomas “Archie” Stewart and his uncle, Samuel Lachlan Stewart, donated 220 acres of farmland to the City of Newburgh to be used as an airport. Over the decades, Stewart was called Stewart Field when the US Army Air Corps used it to train West Point Cadets. It was later called Stewart Air Force Base and in 1970, when it was placed in the hands of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, it was dubbed Stewart International Airport.
In the early 1980s, Stewart was transferred to the state Department of Transportation.
April 17, 1990 saw the first regularly scheduled passenger service. In the late 1990s, the state sold the airport to National Express Corporation of England, which later sold the operating rights to the Port Authority in November 2007.
Now, with Norwegian Air’s successful direct flights between Stewart and Europe and the planned construction of a $37 million passenger terminal upgrade to include a Federal Inspection Section, Port Authority officials believe inclusion of “New York” in the name will help grow the facility.
