Threat to Gettysburg airport lifted

Threat to Gettysburg airport lifted

Lincoln called it hallowed ground. And you'll still be able to visit the Gettysburg battlefield by light aircraft, because the Gettysburg Airport and Travel Center (W05) will remain an airport.

The privately owned airport was up for sale, and had it gone to another private owner, chances are it would have been closed and redeveloped. AOPA didn't want that to happen.

So your association worked quietly behind the scenes to encourage a public purchase of the property. AOPA partnered with the FAA to find a government agency willing to buy the airport and encouraged the agency to fund the purchase.

And they did. The Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority recently committed to buy the Gettysburg Airport. The authority already operates Harrisburg International and Franklin County Regional airports.

The FAA will pay some 90 percent of the purchase price of the 47-acre airport, while the state and the authority will split the cost of the remaining 10 percent.

And because federal funds are being used to buy land, the authority will be obligated to operate the Gettysburg airport in perpetuity, ensuring there will always be a GA airport serving the community and the historic battlefield.

July 7, 2006