Expansion at Tweed-New Haven Airport wins crucial approval but still faces significant hurdles

Tweed-New Haven Airport won a critical approval this week for an ambitious expansion aimed at establishing Tweed as Connecticut’s second major airport alongside Bradley International, an effort already being boosted by the success of start-up Avelo Airlines.

The Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority Wednesday voted 9-4 to lease roughly a third of the 437-acre airport to the longtime operator of Tweed, Avports — over the objections of authority members from East Haven.

Avports, part of Goldman Sachs, plans to invest $100 million in an expansion that would include a longer runway and a larger, $45 million terminal. The 43-year lease approved by the authority covered the amount of time Avports estimated it would take to recoup its investment at Tweed.

“Almost two years ago, we started working on this proposal and so, I think, last night was a victory in moving forward on delivering on the promise we made to the people of southern Connecticut,” Sean Scanlon, executive director of the airport authority, said Thursday.

The expansion has been heavily aimed at giving air travelers in the New Haven and Fairfield counties an alternative to the larger, New York airport and even Bradley.

Since it launched in November, Avelo has drawn 250,000 passengers, Scanlon said, and a further expansion of Tweed would aid economic development in the region.

“If you look at any other successful, growing regional area of the country, they all have one thing in common: they have a growing airport,” Scanlon said.

Scanlon also represents Guilford and Branford in the state House and is running for comptroller.

New Haven owns the airport, but a portion of the airfield is in East Haven. The expansion is of concern to East Haven because the new terminal would be built in East Haven.

The city of New Haven last year backed a lease extension that would clear the way for the expansion, but the Tweed plan still faces significant hurdles.

A study to determine what, if any, effects there would be on the environment and wildlife is in process. The study will be considered by the Federal Aviation Administration, which still must give final approval to the expansion.

Those decisions could come early next year, Scanlon said.

Neighbors in New Haven who live adjacent to Tweed also say they are upset about the expansion, given the increase in noise and traffic they’ve already experienced as Avelo has ramped up service.

On Thursday, East Haven Mayor Joseph Carfora said Wednesday’s vote was rushed without time for East Haven to consider the implications for the lease.

“East Haven takes it on the chin while we inherit all the traffic, transient population, parking headaches, ecological strip-mining, noise, pollution and additional burden on our already-taxed public safety departments that will come with this project,” Carfora said, in an email, “while giving New Haven most of the economic benefit.”

Carfora said East Haven has hired special counsel for the issue and the town is evaluating all land, environmental and taxation issues related to the expansion, noting “East Haven is not afraid of a street fight.”

Scanlon said the authority will continue to work with East Haven and neighbors surrounding Tweed to resolve their concerns.

Avports has said it plans to spend $5 million on measures to reduce noise, traffic and environmental concerns in the surrounding area.

The expansion plans for Tweed call for a new, 70,000-square-foot terminal with four gates, plus an option to expand to six.

The main runway would be extended to accommodate aircraft with larger passenger capacities, which more airlines are now favoring.

Extending the runway also would permit landings in bad weather without having to lighten the weight carried by an arriving plane. Now, if a runway is wet, landing aircraft must either ask a certain number of passengers to get off the plane or cancel the flight. A wet runway requires more time for an airplane to safely stop.

Passenger count are critical to airline decisions about which airports they serve.

The extension of the runway was the target of legal battles for more than four years by those worried about noise, traffic and other quality-of-life ills that a larger airport could bring to the surrounding neighborhood.

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.