Increases in the number of based aircraft and annual flight operations prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to elevate Johnson County Government’s two airport’s classifications.
Johnson County Executive Airport changed classification from a local airport to regional airport, and New Century AirCenter changed from a regional airport to national airport.
“New Century AirCenter is on track to hit 82,000 take offs and landings in 2022,” said Larry Peet, Deputy Director, Johnson County Airport Commission. “That increased traffic number will be close to the busiest years since 1994. Over the last four years, traffic counts just keep inching up. Johnson County Executive Airport is inching up as well and that reflects the services, improving quality of infrastructure and prime location of both Johnson County Government airports,” said Peet.
A higher FAA designation will provide the airports with better ranking for federal Airport Improvement Program funding, as well as an increase in federal non-primary entitlement funding.
The elevation of classification also allows the airports to receive additional funding as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. While BIL funding is in place, those funds will automatically be used as part of the overall Airport Improvement Program grants that are typically received from the FAA in the annual grant process to be used on airfield infrastructure projects.
The New Century AirCenter is the third-busiest airport in Kansas and when coupled with Johnson County Executive Airport they sit on more than 4,000 acres, creating one of the busiest airport systems in Kansas. Complimenting the airport is the New Century Commerce Center which is one the largest multi-tenant business centers in the metro area.
Along with convenient interstate highway access, the Business Park also has a short line railroad with more than six miles of track providing on-call rail service to the BSNF transcontinental mainline. It is a true multimodal center and one of the few logistics parks in the United States where air, rail, and road come together.
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