Published: September 09, 2009 09:27 pm      

If you build it...

Raleigh County Airport’s proactive attitude continues to pay dividends

Gone are the days when Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., was the only choice for Beckley commuters. Locair, the newest airline to hit the Raleigh County tarmac, will begin offering nonstop service to Baltimore-Washington International and Somerset, Ky., starting Sept. 14.

It not only gives area residents additional travel options, it opens up southern West Virginia to travelers from all over the country.

Locair General Manager Nathan Vallier put it best: “You guys are right in the perfect area where we can draw from people because you have all the highways here and you’re a commercial center of south West Virginia.”

We are in the perfect area, and we do have a lot to offer.

Airport Manager Tom Cochran believed it long before Locair laid eyes on Raleigh County. For years, he has been an integral part of southern West Virginia’s economic development. No doubt improvements made under his leadership have drawn this new airline and other major projects, including the National Scouting Center under way in the Mount Hope-Glen Jean area.

Cochran saw that runways were resurfaced, and he built up the weight-bearing capacity on those runways to accommodate larger aircraft. The airport recently underwent an $800,000 paving project in its corporate aviation area and began another $800,000 improvement in lighting and navigational aids on its primary runway.

He also left room for additional growth within the airport itself and its surrounding industrial park, which continues growing. Runways could be extended, and additional aircraft parking won’t be difficult to accommodate.

The Raleigh County Memorial Airport has historically been proactive, always improving infrastructure based on nothing more than a “if you build it they will come” hope.

It is working.

The newest airline is a big step. The next one southern West Virginia must take is completion of the Z-Way project. Our local airport and the new connections available from BWI open access between southern West Virginia and the major markets of the world. Combine that with the access that will be afforded by the Z-Way project, and the opportunities will be endless.