The Iowa Department of Transportation plans to move ahead with a study of the state’s airports after receiving a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to fund a majority of the project.
Michelle McEnany is the director of the D-O-T’s Office of Aviation, and says there are actually three parts to the study. She says grant will allow them to hire a consultant to do an inventory of the air services available. McEnany says they’ll also analyze the market to determine what market Iowa can reasonably serve and create actions plans for Iowa’s airports.
McEnany says the other part of the project will explore the areas around the airports to see how they fit in with the future of the facilities. She says incompatible land use around airports impact the airport’s viability, so this study will help communities find out what they can do to protect their airports from incompatible uses.
McEnany says the work will begin soon. She says they have consultants under contract and look forward to working with them in the next month. McEnany says this study should help improve the service for the entire state. McEnany says it’ll give the D-O-T a better understanding of the commercial air service and allow to go out and meet the needs of the service. The F-A-A grant is for just over 740-thousand dollars.