Planning The Future Of Groton-New London Airport

A draft master plan for the Groton-New London Airport is outlining two alternatives for improving the airport over the next 20 years, one of which could allow for $6.7 million in investment, the other of which could make room for $18 million in improvements.

The alternatives, which were discussed last week, are general ideas and have not been approved.

Ervin C. Deck, a senior aviation planner with Stantec Consulting Services, who presented the options during a public meeting, said the master plan is intended to allow for improvements that could be privately financed, rather than paid for with public money. Stantec was retained under contract by the state.

The two options would leave the airstrip at the airport alone, except for upgrading lighting.

They offer two alternatives for improving the building side of the airport. The $6.7 million option would remodel the terminal, change the auto parking, change the entrance road, and add hangars, among the improvements.

The $18 million option would replace the terminal building, change the parking, change the entrance road and add additional hangars. Most of the additional cost is associated with rebuilding the new terminal and adding hangars.

“We’re going to pick the preferred alternative, we’re going to sit down with the state and the FAA, (and) I think it’s going to be somewhere between the two,” Deck said. Any plan would then be subject to an environmental review and noise analysis.

Groton-New London Airport is considered a general aviation facility, which means it’s open to any aircraft that wants to land here. The airport also handles military helicopters and large corporate jets. It has kept a level of commercial certification although it does not handle regularly-scheduled commercial flights.

The master plan looks 20 years into the future and considers issues such as demand for the airport, capacity and who will likely use it in the future. The plan is also a guide to create the “Airport Layout Plan”, the document approved by the Federal Aviation Administration that determines future building and allows for federal funding.

The master plan for Groton-New London Airport suggests a couple of fairly specific changes. It says the airport could save money by reducing the width of runways the next time they’re due for reconstruction. It also suggests upgrading lighting and possibly adding hangers to allow more people to keep planes there, which brings in income. In addition, it says space could also be used more efficiently; the airport has too much vehicle parking, for example.

One potential issue is whether the plan’s predictions are accurate. The last master plan of the airport, released in 1999, predicted 116,000 takeoffs and landings by 2010.

The actual figure is about 42,000 takeoffs and landings each year, a number which has fallen in recent years. The last plan also predicted 70 to 80 planes would be based at the airport by 2010; the actual figure is 40 to 45 planes.

Deck said he expects the number of flights at the airport will decline or stay flat, but he said Groton should maintain its limited commercial certification, for example, so it may handle some scheduled flights. The airport won’t save money by getting rid of the certification, he said, and may have opportunity should the economy improve.

“We don’t know where the economy is going,” he said. “It’s possible, not likely, but it’s possible, that a start-up company could contact (the airport) tomorrow. . .  be prepared for unexpected opportunities.”