TOPEKA — A new website created by the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation, in collaboration with industry experts, provides a close-up look at all 140 public-use airports across the state and their impact on the communities they serve. Online dashboards provide the conditions of airport runways, economic impact data, future airport needs and more.
According to the dashboard, the Hutchinson Airport as of 2022 has an economic output of $22,534,223, supports 155 jobs and $6,047,638 in wages. This is an extrapolation from a 2016 study conducted by Burns & McDonnell.
“Every airport serves a unique and important role for their community,” said Bob Brock, KDOT Director of Aviation. “It is this uniqueness that makes credible data on individual airports even more important to local, state and national decision-makers.”
The Division of Aviation worked with aviation industry leaders to publish key airport performance data online. Two new tools on this website offer precise aviation economic impact data for each community as well as current information on the status of airport pavement health used to program long-term airport investments.
The airport pavement health condition of the Hutchinson Airport is consistently below state averages for runways, taxiways, apron and taxilane. There are 13 total recommended projects for the airport on the website from 2023 to 2025.
The website address is: https://airkansas.ksdot.gov/AirPerfDash.html
“With this combination of data for every airport, KDOT expects significant improvement in projects that deliver the most positive impact for the community as well as increased capacity to complete projects more efficiently,” Brock said.
The KDOT Aviation website includes information on how communities and airport operators can apply for grants, most notably through the Kansas Airport Improvement Program. For 22 years, KAIP grants have enabled communities to partner with KDOT on 820-plus airport improvement projects totaling nearly $200 million in value. In turn, these Kansas public-use airports support nearly 34,000 jobs and roughly $11 billion of on-airport economic impact within the state.
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