Airline passenger service could be coming back to Athens-Ben Epps Airport, potentially in a larger way than previous commercial efforts, according to information recently presented to Athens-Clarke County’s mayor and commission.
Airport staff members met in February with representatives of “five major airlines to discuss the possibilities of starting service in Athens” during an industry conference aimed at matching airlines with airports, according to background information provided to Mayor Kelly Girtz and the 10 county commissioners regarding two planned local sales tax-funded projects at the airport.
One of the projects will expand vehicle parking, the other will improve an airport taxiway.
Of the five airlines that met with Athens-Ben Epps Airport staff, “a couple … were interested in service from Athens within a year or two,” noted the background information presented last week to the mayor and commission.
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None of the five airlines with whom airport staff met at the February conference were named, a typical circumstance when discussions of potential air service at a particular airport are underway. But commissioners did recently learn that “the airlines interested in servicing Athens today currently fly 70-120 seat aircraft.”
Aircraft of that size would be much larger than aircraft used by airlines that have provided service sporadically at Athens-Ben Epps Airport at various times in the last few decades. Not surprisingly, commissioners learned that parking availability was a concern for the airline representatives that spoke with airport staff at the recent conference.
“It would be very hard to accommodate one of these airlines with our current available parking on the Airport due to the bigger aircraft that are flown by these carriers,” reads part of the background information presented to the mayor and commission.
The parking project would add 80 to 90 spaces to the current inventory at Athens-Ben Epps Airport. But even without commercial air service, additional parking is needed because the airport is handling more private aircraft, with greater passenger capacity, than in the past, the mayor and commissioners learned.
One concern with the present taxiway is “loose pavement that can be ingested by a jet engine or hit by an aircraft propeller,” according to information from the agenda for the commission’s meeting.
Both projects are part of a capital improvement program for the airport, and both will receive significant federal funding to augment the local dollars, Athens-Clarke County Manager Blaine Williams said.
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Commercial passenger air service has been an on-again, off-again proposition at Athens-Ben Epps Airport for many years, with airlines routinely using smaller aircraft capable of carrying a dozen passengers or fewer.
Athens-Ben Epps Airport hasn’t had scheduled commercial service since 2014.
Carriers that have served Athens in the past routinely relied on the federal Essential Air Service program, which subsidizes commercial passenger flights in smaller communities. However, if airlines using the EAS program can’t meet specific passenger load requirements, they lose the subsidy.
Another issue has been the destinations offered by the commercial carriers that have tried to serve Athens-Ben Epps Airport.
For many years, flights from Athens went to Charlotte, a hub for American Airlines. One of the small airlines that served Athens-Ben Epps Airport several years ago offered little-used service to Nashville. There once was commercial passenger air service from Athens to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, but it was suspended after only a short time.
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