Saturday, March 18, 2000
Airport could be 10th busiest by 2015
Major growth in passengers, flights forecast
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HEBRON — The Federal Aviation Administration predicts the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will be the third-fastest growing airport in the nation over the next 15 years.
The FAA analysis projects that by 2015, the airport will be the 10th busiest in the nation based on the number of annual flights, which the study shows will grow from 459,000 in 1999 to 739,000 in that span. The airport now ranks 18th.
The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport is projected to surpass airports in Miami, Denver, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco, Orlando and Newark.
Ahead of the airport in 2015 will be, in order, Dallas/Fort Worth, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Houston.
The Cincinnati airport will trail only Dulles in Washington and Las Vegas in rate of growth, the study predicts.
That ranking is based on the number of passengers flying out of the airport, which is projected to more than double from 10.6 million in 1999 to 22.7 million in 2015.
By 2015, the airport will be the 18th busiest in the nation based on the number of departing passengers, up from 25th in 1999.
“This study is good news for the airport and good news for this region,” said Bob Holscher, airport director of aviation. “As the airport has grown, so has the economy in Northern Ken tucky and Greater Cincinnati, and it appears like that trend is only going to continue.”
Mr. Holscher presented the study's findings Friday during a meeting with U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Louisville Republican who was in Northern Kentucky to receive an update on the airport's growth and operations.
“Take it from someone who travels quite a bit and is in a lot of airports,” Mr. McConnell said during the meeting. “You do it as well as any other airport in the country and better than most.”
It's notable, too, said Chad Everett, a planner with the Kenton County Airport Board, that the growth projection does not take into account the proposed new north-south runway. If it receives federal approval, it would open in about five years.
The head of a group that has lobbied the airport for better sound control welcomed the growth projections, but said they are furthur proof the airport hasn't been candid about its future needs.
“We do not condemn the airport, we recognize that it is the greatest growth tool for the Greater Cincinnati area,” said David Kaiser, 55, of Pleasant Valley Meadows. He is chairman of United for Boone County, an anti-noise group.
“But when you have such a valuable asset to the community, it must be managed properly.”
He said he thinks airport management hasn't been honest with residents about the number of runways it needs, and about increases in noise that will come from the projected growth.
Mr. Holscher said much of the airport's growth in the next 15 years is expected to come from Comair, the regional airline headquartered at the airport that was purchased last year by Delta Air Lines for nearly $2 billion.
Delta and Comair operate hubs at the airport and account for 92 percent of all airport flights, said Ted Bushelman, spokesman for the Kenton County Airport Board.
Delta is likely to begin turning over many of its shorter routes to Comair because that airline is close to having a jets-only fleet, Mr. Holscher said.
The FAA study forecast that the number of departing passengers at the airport will grow by 5.1 percent over the next 15 years, compared to the national rate of 3.6 percent.
Only Washington will grow faster,at 5.7 percent.
Jim Hannah contributed to this report.
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