HEBRON — The federal government approved plans Wednesday to build one runway and extend another at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

        But airport officials must come up with a way to pay for the $230 million project, which is designed to cut back on flight delays while adding flights.

        U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas, a Richwood Democrat whose district includes the airport, said he was pleased with the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to approve the project.

        “The runway will be good for the future of the airport, and consequently, good for our economy,” Mr. Lucas said.

        But the potential of increased flights is not good news to people such as Jennifer Palanci, 41, a nurse from Price Hill.

        “More planes means more noise,” Ms. Palanci said. “It's very annoying and distracting to the whole west side of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Frankly, I hope the runway never gets built.”

        The airport wants to build an 8,000-foot, north-south runway to the west of two existing north-south strips. It wants to extend the western end of the east-west runway 2,000 feet to a total of 12,000 feet.

        The project, including land acquisition and sound mitigation, is expected to cost $230 million. Airport officials hope to have the work completed by 2005.

        Paying for the runway construction and extension is the airport's newest challenge.

        “We can't say we have a definitive (finance) plan yet,” said Sheila Hammons, the airport's director of finance. “We've applied for federal funding to pay for 75 percent of the costs, but we don't know if we will get that much.”

        A ticket surcharge of $3 to $4.50 is likely to be imposed to pay for the local share of the project, Ms. Hammons said.

        The airport has money to begin buying some of the 563 acres needed for the new runways.

        Those purchases include 188 homes, one business, a church and a historic log home.

        The church, Hebron Baptist Church, has already found a site to rebuild.

        The historic log home, the William Rouse House — a 116-year-old cabin on Conner Road — will be moved to a location in Burlington, said Matt Becher, the rural/open space planner for the Boone County Planning Commission.

        The major impact and advantage of the new runways will be decreasing delays, according to federal and airport officials.

        Delay times would drop from the current average of 6 minutes per flight to about 3.5 minutes. Without the new runways, delays would increase to 8.5 minutes, according to the final FAA report on the project.

        The decrease in delays would save the airport and airlines about $70 million in the first year alone. Because the airport is a hub, delays here can ripple to other airports, further clogging the nation's air travel system.

        The report also says the new runways would improve air quality because fewer delays would mean planes wouldn't idle as long on the tarmac.

        It also says that noise corridors would not change much, with only a small area around the new runways possibly affected. Airport officials said homes inside that area would be acquired anyway because they are in the probable construction zone.

        Another 47 homes are likely to be eligible for sound mitigation.

        Representatives of the two major airlines that operate hubs at the airport — Delta Air Lines and Comair — said the new runways will help improve and potentially grow their operations, though no specifics have been released.

        “If we want to grow, and we intend to, the new runway is a necessity,” said Comair spokeswoman Meghan Glynn.

        The FAA report takes the Cincinnati runway project “to the next level,” said Eric Summe, director of government and public affairs for Delta in Cincinnati.

        “We are still a very strong proponent of increasing airport capacity,” Mr. Summe said. “We always have been.”

        By cutting down on delays, the new runways should “fundamentally improve our operation and performance,” Mr. Summe said.
       

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