Airports and State Advocacy
Grant application moves forward for Ohio airport
Cincinnati-Blue Ash Airport is a diamond in the rough, but now it is a step closer to getting the polishing it needs.
The city of Cincinnati, which owns the airport located nearby in Blue Ash, Ohio, has submitted its airport layout plan to the FAA. That was the one piece of documentation holding up the airport’s application for Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funding. Receiving AIP funding would require the airport remain open for 20 years. The obligations attached to previous AIP funds the airport received expired a few years ago.
The airport has the support of Blue Ash and Cincinnati city officials, the FAA, Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), and AOPA. During a conference call Jan. 25, all parties discussed the value of the airport and the need for it to receive AIP funding. The FAA has said that the grant request will move forward now that the documentation is complete. The city is seeking $2.5 million in AIP funding.
“Revitalizing Cincinnati-Blue Ash Airport has been a struggle,” said AOPA Vice President of Local Airport Advocacy, “but the airport seems to have cleared the last hurdle needed to get its much-needed improvement funding.”
AOPA will continue to work with the two cities and the FAA to get the revitalization project on track. The AIP funding would be used to build a new taxiway on the south side of the airport and resurface the runway. Private developers would build new hangars, and the city of Blue Ash would provide an access road on the south side of the airport.
January 28, 2010
