By Rick Steelhammer for The Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHALRESTON, W.Va. — A runway with 1,000-foot safety overrun areas at each end and 8,000 feet of pavement for takeoff space is needed, along with other improvements, to meet Charleston’s airfield needs for the next 20 years, according to the consulting firm preparing Yeager Airport’s master plan update.
Representatives from Cincinnati-based Landrum & Brown based the need for the improvements on a projected annual passenger growth rate of 2 percent, which would see Yeager Airport’s yearly passenger boardings increase from about 212,500 in 2017 to about 287,500 in 2027. That projection assumes Yeager would recapture direct flights to Orlando, Detroit and Dallas. …
