Transport Officials Hopeful for Improvements to Municipal Airports

improvements to arkansas airports

Officials in Northwest Arkansas are spending millions to make improvements to municipal airports that they believe will attract more pilots and better planes to the region.

Airports are valuable assets to the community, and the more inviting the area can make itself to aviation professionals, the more popular it will become in their circles. This is just another example of recent efforts to help bolster the state’s infrastructure. Road improvement projects and plans for a park in Fayetteville are driving prospects for Arkansas’s economic recovery.

In a recent interview, Jerry Chism, director of the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics, explained to Arkansas Online that airports are integral parts of the communities they are in. Businesses decide where to move or open based on location and accessibility; travelers want to know they can have a great experience during what may be a stressful trip.

“There is no case where an airport in a community is not a valuable asset,” he said.

Many airport upgrades are needed to help accommodate growth and demand, said David Krutsch, Rogers Municipal Airport manager. Growth in Northwest Arkansas will create growth in air transportation, he said.

Types of upgrades Arkasas’s airports can expect to undergo include everything from routine runway maintenance to new entrances to avoid traffic backups in pickup and drop-lanes.

Springdale Municipal Airport, in particular may benefit from a new access road while Fayetteville Executive Airport is scheduled to receive a runway extension within the next three to four years. On the other hand, some upgrades are more than wish list items: improvements at Rogers Municipal Airport are scheduled to bring the facilities up to federal standards, and officials are working to replace paved areas built between the late ‘80s and the early ‘90s.

Oliver Law Firm is excited to witness the rapid growth our state’s infrastructure is experiencing. Hopefully, improvements will reduce accidents and make our roads, airports and all systems of travel safer for citizens across Arkansas.