The West Virginian Aviation Conference wrapped up today with a tour of Eastern Regional Airport.  Attendants got a chance to see some of the improvements being made to the facility that total more than $4 million.  Richard Wachtel, chairman of both the West Virginia Aeronautics Commission and the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport Authority in Martinsburg guided a tour through the new museum, restaurant and board room at the terminal-administration building. The building is designed to house commuters complete with baggage handling and ticketing areas should commercial flights ever come to the airport.  Wachtel said the museum and Runway restaurant are already open to the public, and can even accommodate large groups for events such as field trips.The next big need for the airport is money to construct a new crosswind runway.  The airport authority abandoned their original crosswind runway at the request of the military.  The space was needed to expand the Air National Guard base so they could house C-5 aircraft.The design for the new runway is nearly complete, and the military has committed to helping with it construction.  Wachtel said additional money, which totals less than $200,000, is still needed for sight preparation and culvert work.  The money will be sought from the Federal Aviation Administration, which may or may not be cooperative because they disapproved of the airport authority’s agreement to abandon their original runway.  If the FAA does not provide the money, a special appropriation fund will be sought from the Congressional Delegation in Washington.Aside from promoting general aviation, the airport wants to encourage economic development in the area.  Wachtel said more than 100-acres of the airport’s 200-acre industrial park is immediately available for development, complete with utilities. He said that ideally the new industries moving in would be aviation oriented to continue use of the airport, but that any development will help create new jobs and boost the economy.

Categories: Local News
Tags: Airport Authority, Aviation, Development, economy, Wachtel