[1][2] It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027 categorized it as a non-hub primary commercial service facility.

[citation needed] Revenues are generated by air service operations, resident aviation-related industrial companies, real estate, cargo, international charter flights, and corporate/general aviation traffic.

[citation needed] On August 19, 1923, 15 Martin Bombers and 11 DeHaviland Scout Planes under the command of Gen. Billy Mitchell — virtually the entire U.S. Army Air Corps — landed there on a practice mission.

[citation needed] 1941 saw the first fatal crash of a military aircraft in Maine, when a Douglas B-18 Bolo bomber stationed at Bangor Army Airfield went down in nearby Springfield, killing all four crew.

[citation needed] Between 1941 and 1971, there were 14 additional fatal crashes of military aircraft based in Bangor, three within city limits and the rest in small towns or wilderness areas between the north woods and the coast.

From the 1970s into the 1990s, the airport attracted 3,000 to 5,000 commercial flights a year, mostly charter jetliners flying between Europe and the West Coast of the United States, or the Caribbean and Mexico.

Travelers from every part of the world mingled in the airport lounge — from the French & Belgian contingents of the Elvis Presley Fan Club on their way to Memphis to President José López Portillo of Mexico on his way to Moscow with members of his military staff.

[citation needed] In 1977, Erwin Kreuz, a 50-year-old West German brewery worker on his way to San Francisco, stepped off a refueling charter flight in the mistaken belief that he had reached his destination.

The Belgians won, but the American team, taking a more southerly track to avoid inclement weather, inadvertently became the first to pilot a balloon from North America to Africa, landing just east of Casablanca, Morocco, setting new endurance and distance records in the process.

[13] In October 1995, Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin held a brief summit at the airport to discuss economic cooperation.

Starting in 1991, a combination of local veterans and interested citizens formed themselves into troop greeters to avoid the situation of the Vietnam War, when soldiers returned without ceremony or greeting.

[citation needed] In 2006, the airline added direct flights to Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport aboard McDonnell Douglas MD-88 jets.

[citation needed] North American Airlines, operated by Global Aviation Holdings, Inc., frequently used Bangor International to transport U.S. troops on Boeing 767-300ERs to Europe.

[citation needed] With a runway that is more than two miles (3.2 km) long and an uncluttered airspace, it offers a place to land in case of bad weather at an airplane's destination, bomb threats, or passengers who prove unruly or are discovered to be on the Transportation Security Administration's No Fly List.

[citation needed] Because of its experience, the airport is able to quickly assemble firefighters, ambulances, police officers, and federal agents to meet such planes.

[citation needed] During their involuntary visit to Maine, passengers receive food and donated cell phones to make calls.

[citation needed] Among those who have made unscheduled stops for that reason are former President George H. W. Bush and Colin Powell,[22] and actors Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford.

[citation needed] Once in Bangor, planes will often disembark military passengers, refuel, reload the troops and take off to air bases elsewhere in the U.S. or overseas.

[citation needed] Bangor International Airport was the main ground setting for Stephen King's novella The Langoliers, which was made into a two-part television miniseries.