A new study has detailed the economic effects of Virginia's airports. Regional airports such as Roanoke's and even single-strip general aviation facilities are economic generators.
Air travel, air cargo and associated aviation activities such as flight instruction are busy exchange points for money in this part of Southwest Virginia, contributing more than $230 million to the state's economy, a new report says.
Officials at the Virginia Department of Aviation were troubled last year by a sense that people did not understand the economic benefits of airports. They hired consultants to count all the dollars that change hands as a result of the state's 66 aviation facilities.
The total was $28.8 billion in 2010, according to the study released in August.
Three Southwest Virginia airports - those in Roanoke, Blacksburg and Dublin - are churning out $231.5 million in economic activity just by themselves, the report said.
To get the big picture, consultants ranged outside the borders of the aviation field, counting not only plane tickets and jet fuel, but also visitor spending on hotels and entertainment if those visitors arrived by plane. As a result, they counted some of the same dollars, say, that are tallied in the annual accounting of tourism spending. Still, the report captures aviation's significant economic footprint.
Virginia Tech-Montgomery Executive Airport in Blacksburg, where 42 aircraft are based and 14,000 aircraft landed and took off last year, is described as a hotbed of monetary activity.
The single-runway airport itself employs nine people, but its presence supports a total of 70 jobs that pay nearly $2 million. All told, the public airport contributes $9.4million statewide, the study said.
Manager Michael St. Jean said he was surprised the number was as high as it turned out to be.
"It's a great generator of jobs and economic impact," he said.
Another small airport, New River Valley Airport in Pulaski County, generates $5.9 million in transactions a year, the report said. There is a U.S. Customs office there and a lengthy runway measuring 6,201 feet.
Roanoke Regional Airport gets some of its economic power from the business traveler, who occupies 60 percent of outgoing flights. On average, 480 business travelers fly out of Roanoke per weekday. You can spot them by their business dress, small carry-on and laptop satchel, queued up as early at 5 a.m. at the boarding-area checkpoint. Major employers using the airport frequently include Virginia Tech, Carilion Clinic, Advance Auto Parts, Norfolk Southern and Kollmorgen.
During the wee hours of the morning, the other major driver springs into action. That's when cargo crews ship out more than 5,000 packages on a jumbo jet.
Rusty Harrington, with the state aviation department, assisted consultants who analyzed the nine commercial and 57 general aviation airports in Virginia. Visitors, it turned out, are the biggest factor and were responsible for $11.2 billion, or 39 percent of total airport-related economic transactions. On-airport activity came to $10 billion, or 35 percent, while airport-dependent businesses generated spending of $7.6 billion, or 26 percent, the report said.
Harrington said that the report shows that while it is possible for even a small general aviation airfield to generate millions in annual spending, the benefit of a large airport such as Washington Dulles International Airport, 25 miles west of Washington, D.C., is nothing short of "astounding."
The facility's four runways last year handled 23 million passengers, 20,000 tons of mail and 700,000 tons of freight. It supports 96,980 jobs. Its economic impact in 2010 was $10billion, the study found.
The report, which shows appreciable increases from a similar study run in 2004, is found at the aviation department website.
Online: www.doav.virginia.gov/economic_impact_study_2011.htm
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