By Rick Steelhammer, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia International Yeager Airport’s plan to extend its runway might be on hold, but an abundance of other construction projects are either planned or ready to get underway, CRW officials said during a news media tour of the Charleston airport Monday.
In March, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a pause on an environmental impact study that began in October 2023 on the airport’s plan to extend its runway to 7,000 feet and add safety overrun zones on each end. The plan would require constructing a massive fill structure across neighboring Coonskin Park.
The pause in the environmental impact statement process allows the airport to conduct additional planning on the runway extension project, “which may result in changes to the original airfield plan submitted for the EIS,” said Dominique Ranieri, the airport’s director and CEO.
While the airport’s plan to extend the runway may be on hold, “it’s not dead,” she said.
