Between 2008 and 2012, Federal Aviation Administration records show that annual passenger boardings (enplanements) at the airport grew from 16,489 to more than 69,000.

[2] Manhattan Regional Airport, located in Riley County, Kansas, began construction on June 13, 1939, with the establishment of temporary grass runways.

The $18 million project has three jet bridge parking positions from two gates, and can accommodate aircraft as large as the Boeing 737 or Airbus A320.

Capitol Air Service (ICAO airline designator CPX), was headquartered in Manhattan from the 1960s until the company ceased flights in 1989, after having twice been grounded by the FAA for multiple safety and records keeping violations.

Beginning in 1982, Wichita-based Air Midwest flew from Manhattan to Kansas City and Salina on 17-passenger Swearingen Metroliner IIs.

When Eastern closed its hub at Kansas City in late 1988, Air Midwest signed a new codeshare agreement with the second incarnation of Braniff Airlines, which had started a small hub at MCI, and began flights as Braniff Express'to Kansas City on Swearingen Metroliner IIs.

Braniff filed bankruptcy and shut down in late 1989 and Air Midwest reverted to operating under their own branding to Kansas City.

Air Midwest was also operating a codeshare agreement with TWA as Trans World Express at the major carriers' St. Louis hub.

For a short time in 1990 nonstop TWExpress flights were operated from Manhattan to St. Louis using Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia aircraft.

[citation needed] Great Lakes Airlines flew to Manhattan between March 30, 2008, and April 7, 2010, taking over after Mesa left and ending service after American Eagle announced additional expansion.

Allegiant Air operated a short-lived jet service with twice-weekly nonstop flights between Manhattan and Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport from November 7, 2013, to February 23, 2014.

American Eagle began service on August 26, 2009, with two daily nonstop flights to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).

The first phase of the airport's new 42,000-square-foot (3,900 m2) terminal facility opened in March 2015, housing American Airlines, Hertz Rent-a-Car, Enterprise Car Rental, and other services.

The FBO facility, next to the passenger terminal, is occupied by Kansas Air Center, which has been operating at the Manhattan airport since May 1989.

The Kansas State University Flying Club, an airport tenant for over 50 years, has office space in this facility for instruction and flight planning.

Other facilities include a fire station, 48 hangars, storage areas, a fuel farm, and an air traffic control tower.