Meade County Area Chamber of Commerce supports regional jet service at Elizabethtown Airport BRANDENBURG – The Meade County Area Chamber of Commerce has added its name to the list of organizations, businesses, and governments endorsing the effort to gain regional jet service for Elizabethtown Regional Airport. In a resolution adopted March 1 by its board of the directors, the Chamber of Commerce said its members and residents of Meade County and its neighbors would benefit from “competitively priced regional jet airline service closer to home; increased accessibility to key points around the world; and the ability to promote Meade County and the entire region for the development of new business, industry, and jobs.” “Making Meade County a great place to live, work, raise a family, and enjoy life is one of the key objectives of the Chamber of Commerce,” said Roxann Curts, its president, when she announced the endorsement. “Successful completion of a project of this magnitude would have a dramatic, positive impact on businesses and people in our community and the people we hope will choose to live and be in business here in the future.” “To make this happen, there are a lot of organizations that need to come together to make this a truly regional effort,” said Luke Schmidt, president of Luke B. Schmidt & Associates in Prospect, the consultant hired by the airport to help bring in regional jet service. According to Schmidt, 31 governments and organizations thus far have adopted resolutions supporting the proposal, and it’s being considered by two dozen others. Soon, he said, he would seek support from Meade County and the city of Brandenburg. “New, regional jet service for Meade County, Elizabethtown, Fort Knox and Central Kentucky means opportunities,” he said during a meeting with Russ Powell, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce. “It will give our communities a powerful new economic development tool that will help many existing businesses and attract new ones. That, in turn, will strengthen the economy and provide opportunities that we don’t have now.” The airport, opened in 1982 as Addington Field, is located southwest of Elizabethtown on Kitty Hawk Drive near the intersection of Ring Road and U.S. 62. Its runway is 6,000 feet long and 100 feet wide, which Schmidt characterized as “regional jet ready.” Projects under way now, at a cost of $2.4 million, include an instrument landing system. And, he said, the airport is prepared to build a passenger terminal when a commitment for regional jet service is received from an airline. At a meeting in February, he said the airport’s board had voted to change the name of the facility to Addington Field/Elizabethtown Regional Airport from simply Addington Field as an indicator of what it expects to be the facility’s future. The board also approved a new logo that includes the airport’s identification code – EKX. By Schmidt’s account, regional jet service at Elizabethtown Regional Airport will provide business, military, and leisure travelers shorter driving times; competitive fares; secure, free parking at the terminal; and shorter waits for check-in and security clearance. A feasibility study of the project included these key findings and conclusions, according to Schmidt: • The regional air service market includes a 24-county area with a population of 608,000 people. • Each of these counties is closer in driving time and distance to the Elizabethtown airport than they are to any of the surrounding commercial airports in Evansville, Lexington, Louisville and Nashville. •The core of the market – the Elizabethtown/Fort Knox corridor – has a population of 65,000 people and is the fourth largest urban center in Kentucky. • A potential “enplanement” market of 350,214 passengers exists in the 24-county market. • When ground transportation costs (mileage to and from the airport, parking) are factored in, and, assuming that the Elizabethtown airport will have free parking and airfares that are competitive with both Louisville and Nashville (including Southwest Airlines’ fares), the Elizabethtown airport becomes hands down the region’s low cost airport. Significant savings are available to regional businesses, industries, colleges, and universities if commercial airline service returns to Elizabethtown, he said. As an example, Schmidt said one industry in Bardstown that generates 800 commercial airline trips per year would save $34,000 just in terms of ground transportation costs by flying out of Elizabethtown instead of Louisville. For Fort Knox, with its planned growth due to BRAC, having a new commercial airport just 18 miles away would make travel easier and less expensive, he said. Had service been available in Elizabethtown in 2005 and factoring in ground transportation costs, the installation would have saved more than $1 million by flying out of Elizabethtown instead of Louisville. According to Schmidt, Fort Knox is the largest user of commercial airline service in the region, having generated more than 23,000 trips in 2005, not including inbound trainees. He said the board that operates the airport and those working on the project recognize that for success they must be able to: • Attract a regional airline, such as Comair, that is aligned with a major airline, such as Delta. • Develop service to a major connecting hub to provide one-stop access for the region to all major North American destinations, along with significant international connections. • Develop service using regional jet aircraft. • Develop service that offers competitive airfares with Louisville and Nashville. Schmidt said businesses, organizations and individuals who would like to show their support of the effort to obtain regional jet service should submit letters of support to him in care of the airport at P.O. Box 1866, Elizabethtown, KY 42702. Click Here to Go Back
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