ALBANY — The Albany County Airport Authority, which operates Albany International Airport, has received a $750,000 federal grant that will be used to try and expand the airport’s connectivity to the western United States and the high-tech companies that are based there.
The Department of Transportation awarded the funds under the Small Community Air Service Development Program. The grant will be matched with funds raised by local chambers of commerce and a $1.5 million incentive package developed by Albany International Airport to attract new airlines to the airport and encourage existing airlines to add new routes.
“This is a huge accomplishment,” Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus said, citing the competitive nature of the grant process.
There were 70 grant applications from communities in 34 states. A total of $15 million was awarded this year to 29 communities in 22 states, according to Congressman Paul D. Tonko’s spokesman, Beau Duffy.
Grants are awarded based on an applicant’s strategy to enhance flight service, as well as an ability to demonstrate a high level of community support.
The Saratoga County Chamber, Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber, Rensselaer County Chamber and Schenectady County Chamber and Center for Economic Growth partnered with the airport to raise $253,500 in cash donations from local businesses and $291,600 in in-kind contributions that will be used to market the flights should they arrive.
The airport announced it will use the grant money to provide a revenue guarantee to an airline that will provide non-stop service to Houston, Texas, Denver or Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. The locations were selected after a review of Albany’s passenger traffic, which showed a sufficient number of travelers passed through the airports anyway.
The three cities are all major travel hubs (the former two for United Continental Holdings, the latter for American Airlines) and would offer increased connectivity to locations to which Albany does not offer direct service.
Planes departing from Albany generally travel to the eastern United States, with the exception of flights to Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Las Vegas.
The airport’s most-sought destination is Houston, given the city’s relative proximity to a slew of high-tech companies in Austin, Texas. GlobalFoundries, which is constructing a high-tech manufacturing plant in Malta, operates in Austin as well.
Shimkus said the airport needs more flights and direct flights to the west if the region wants to attract more high-tech companies and jobs.
“It’s an economic imperative,” he said.
However, the grant does not necessarily guarantee that a new flight will arrive. That’s up to the applicant.
“Now the real work begins as our partnership seeks to attract new flights, new carriers and lower rates to those using the Albany International Airport,” Shimkus said.
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