WILLIAMSTOWN – Members of the Wood County Airport Authority of the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport were told Tuesday the number of passengers continues to grow.
In May 772 people used the commercial service to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. This is the second largest number of passengers in six years with June 2012 having recorded 800 passengers.
Last year was the busiest year for the airport with 7,800 enplanements, up from roughly 7,500 passengers in 2011.
“I am surprised because I didn’t think we were putting that many people on the planes,” manager Terry Moore said.
Fuel sales also increased with 28,000 gallons of unleaded and jet fuel sold, up from 27,226 last month.
The amount of fuel sold at the facility is important because the more sold the more money the airport has to pay monthly bills.
Passenger numbers are important because airports that have at least 10,000 enplanements per year receive $1 million in federal Airport Improvement Project (AIP) funds annually, airports with fewer passengers receive $150,000.
Moore also gave an update on the AIP for this year, which involves repairing major issues with areas of the runway.
“The engineer we had worked with has left the company, so it took me a while to find another engineer to work with us,” Moore said.
An engineer out of Pittsburgh has been found and a project plan will be in place and turned in to U.S. Department of Transportation this month with work likely to begin later this summer.
Baker Engineering recommended five phases of repairs and fixes, beginning with doing the runway and alpha taxiway with crack sealant and regular repairs.
Moore said because of the work that needs to be done, the airport may receive between $550,000 and $700,000 in funding for the work.
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