History of the Moore County Airport
The Moore County Airport has a unique and interesting history. The facility first came into being in 1929 when the Tufts family, famous for their establishment of the famed Pinehurst Resort, opened a dirt runway and named it “Knollwood Airport”.
In 1935 Moore County acquired the airport from the Knollwood Development Company.
From 1942 to 1945, the airport was leased to the U. S. Army Air Corps and was used as the Knollwood Army Auxiliary Airfield.
In 1945, the airport became the Pinehurst-Southern Pines Airport and Piedmont Airlines began service, ending in the late 1960’s.
1980 brought another name change, The Moore County Airport, which still remains the official title today.
From 1945 until January 13, 1992, the County leased out the Fixed Base Operations (FBO). The latest FBO being Air Moore, Inc. / Pinehurst Jet Center.
October 1991 saw the return of scheduled airline service with the arrival of CCAir, operating as USAir Express providing commercial air service to and from Charlotte, North Carolina.
In January 1993, Moore County purchased the remaining 16 years of FBO lease from the Pinehurst Jet Center plus all business assets. The County now owned the airport which included land and buildings as well as the assets of the FBO business.
July 20, 1993, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 942 creating the Moore County Airport Authority to operate and maintain the Moore County Airport facilities.
Growth during the late 1990’s and early 21 century was significant. O & D passenger traffic peaked at over 50,000 passengers in 1998.
Partially due to the effects of the disasters of September 11, 2001 and the impact on airline traffic, CCAir ceased service to the Moore County Airport on April 15, 2002.