Montauk Airport was constructed in 1957 to improve access to the
East End community, which was being developed as a summer resort.
Perry Duryea Jr., a former pilot of the
Naval Air Transport Service, was one of the early partners of the corporation that developed the airport, and often piloted his own plane between Montauk and
Albany while serving as a member of the
New York State Assembly. The following year, regular flights were proposed between Montauk and
LaGuardia Airport in
New York City during the summer season for use by vacationers and sport fishermen. In 1961 there was attempt by Suffolk County to buy the airport and turn it into a county airport, but the plans ultimately failed. The small airport has been used by various celebrities visiting the
Hamptons including
Mick Jagger who was inspired to write a 1976 song
Memory Motel based on an actual Montauk motel. He and
Bianca Jagger had been staying at
Eothen, the estate of
Andy Warhol in Montauk. Other celebrities spotted at the airport included
Sarah Ferguson,
Nicole Kidman,
Robert De Niro,
Jimmy Buffett,
Ray Charles,
Aretha Franklin and
Lou Reed. In 2007, Montauk Airport received two grants from the
Federal Aviation Administration to install an
Automated Weather Observing System to provide pilots with current weather conditions at the airport and a
Precision Approach Path Indicator to visually alert pilots if they are on the glidepath while preparing to land. An additional grant was received from the FAA in 2008 to install
taxiway edge lights. The airport was bought by a new (undisclosed) buyer on June 14, 2022. East Hampton Town earlier had expressed interest in buying the airport. In July 2012 the airport was listed as for sale by descendants of the original owners including Duryea's son Chip with
Douglas Elliman Real Estate agents Paul Brennan and Ronald White. The price of the property is $18 million. East Hampton town (which owns the much bigger
East Hampton Airport 15 miles west of the Montauk airport), Suffolk County, and the State of New York have all said they do not have the funds to buy the airport. They have said the airport would be legally required to remain an airport until 2019 since it had received an FAA grant in 2009. Under zoning requirements, it could be divided into six residential lots. == Facilities and aircraft ==