Newport News airport receives federal funding to help plan for the future

NEWPORT NEWS — The Newport News/Williamsburg Airport has struggled with lost business in recent years, but airport officials still believe they can reverse course and keep the airport afloat.

Last week, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced the airport would receive $1.35 million in federal funding to update its Airport Master Plan — a planning document that guides the airport’s future for the next five to 20 years.

The federal funding comes at a rough time for the airport, which has largely been squeezed out of the southeastern Virginia commercial air service market in recent years by larger airports in Norfolk and Richmond.

Interim Airport Director John Borden assures that the airport has not abandoned passenger traffic and is continuing to search for new airlines. Borden has worked at the airport for 12 years, previously serving as a facility-project manager and deputy director. He said his top priority as interim director is “to level things out and to get us at a level where we could hold our own.”

Components of the master plan include large projects the airport anticipates, how best to use funding, and air and passenger studies.

“The master plan won’t say, go look for Delta or go look for United,” said Borden, who described the document as a “bible” for the airport and said it is updated every 10 years. “It just tells you — based on the forecast five years from now, 10 years from now, based on the population of your area, how many more people are going to move into your area — this is what you really should be kind of looking at.”

The plan would also account for projected market changes and technological advances and how to adapt.

“It’s really time for us to do our update,” Borden said.

The past year has been a difficult one for the airport, where only one commercial passenger airline currently operates. Earlier this year, Avelo Airlines discontinued service from the regional hub, citing “market factors” that exceed the control of the airport or the Peninsula Airport Commission.

This year, the airport’s commission also fired Executive Director Mike Giardino in hopes that different leadership would bring more commercial air service to the airport. The airport has seen a drastic decline in passengers — from more than 1 million travelers in 2012 to about 166,000 in fiscal year 2022.

American Airlines is the only commercial carrier serving the airport. Borden said American was seeing about three to four flights a day earlier this year, but will increase to about five flights a day in June.

The Newport News airport also derives significant revenue from general aviation traffic and hangar rentals, as people fly and charter smaller private planes. But the reduced commercial traffic has led to far lower revenue from airlines, parking fees and car rentals.

Borden said the airport is “ecstatic” to receive the master plan funding.

In a joint news release, Kaine and Warner said they were “thrilled” to deliver funding to various airports in the state to make travel more convenient and accessible.

“This funding will allow our Commonwealth’s airports to start important maintenance and planning projects that will help meet their communities’ needs for years to come,” the news release said.

Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com.