After more than a decade of waiting, a runway extension project that will allow the Kokomo Municipal Airport to attract new business will soon be prepared for takeoff.
The project, which will extend the airport’s main runway from 5,200 feet to 6,000 feet, has been 12 years in the making.
The dirt work on the runway extension has been completed. Kokomo Municipal Airport Manager Frank Cade said the airport is now anticipating grant money from the Federal Aviation Administration to finish the remainder of the project, which will include grading and LED lighting upgrades to the runways and taxiways. The airport received a $1.3 million federal award for the project in September.
If everything goes according to plan, Cade anticipates the entire project to be completed in the next month.
“Once we receive the grant money, the project should be done within 30 days,” he said. “That will include the asphalt and the rest of the lighting.”
The upgrades will allow the airport to take in more traffic by extending the runway. The FAA requires an airport the size of Kokomo's to have a 6,000-foot runway as an industry standard.
The FAA is funding 95 percent of the project, with a local match of 2.5 percent and the other 2.5 percent coming from Indiana Department of Transportation funds.
The FAA already has spent about $8 million on the project, including money for land acquisitions, funds to re-route County Road 300 East and level off runway safety areas on either end of the main runway.
Over the past 12 years, Cade said the project has included purchasing four homes and farm ground, expanding the airport property from 430 to 530 acres.
Kokomo Board of Aviation Commissioner Rick Kirk added between 80 and 90 percent of airplane insurance companies require using runways with a minimum length of 6,000 feet.
The runway extension will result in more planes coming in, Kirk said, which will allow the airport to sell more fuel.
“The 800-foot extension catches a lot of these business corporate jets,” Cade said. “We have a lot of freight that runs in and out of here for Chrysler and that will help for them on the useful load.
“It will help us better serve our current customers,” Cade added. “There have been times when an airplane will go to Indianapolis to drop someone off because they want to fly non-stop back to California. They can’t take enough fuel here because of the useful load on aircrafts because the runway is too short.”
Board of Aviation Commission President Robert Hollingsworth said the runway extension and airport improvements could also attract aviation businesses to the area.
“It basically makes us a regional class airport,” he said. “The fact that the bypass is just a half mile away from us now also helps. We’ve gotten inquiries already of companies that are looking at the possibility of locating their aviation departments around the field.”