Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport Gets Funding to Court 2nd Carrier

January 7, 2004

Airport Gets Funding to Court 2nd Carrier
Salisbury Daily Times, MD

 
SALISBURY -- An official for the Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional 
Airport said the facility has secured a $15,000 grant to help fund a marketing 
drive designed to attract another airline carrier to the region. 

Airport Manager Robert Bryant said funding from the Maryland Aviation 
Administration will be used to retain the services of two consulting firms that 
specialize in devising strategies to recruit airliners. The airport will 
contribute $15,000 toward the effort. 

For several years, airport officials have discussed the possibility of 
expanding into new markets. But after Sept. 11, 2001, many talks stagnated as 
the airline industry dealt with the economic fallout associated with the 
terrorist attacks. 

"It became apparently obvious that airlines were not looking to expand into new 
markets," Bryant said Tuesday. 

US Airways was hit hard by Sept. 11 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 
protection in 2002. 

Piedmont Airlines, a US Airways express carrier, operates flights out of 
Wicomico's airport to Philadelphia and Washington. 

But Bryant said airport officials are ready to resume their efforts to bring in 
another airliner. 

"We know we have a strong number of potential travelers in Delmarva who are 
flying to destinations in the Southwest and West Coast," he said. 

Adding another carrier would provide residents access to regional hubs -- such 
as Newark, N.J. -- that provide links to areas where US Airways does not fly. 

Express carriers with Continental Airlines and Delta are among the corporations 
that airport officials are eager to lure here. 

"But we're open to anybody," Bryant said. 

To help attract a second carrier to Wicomico County, airport officials will 
need to secure funding to extend the airport's runway. 

"Regional jets require more runway length. It will open added opportunities 
(for the airport)," Bryant said. 

Extending the airport's runway has been an issue for more than 10 years. 

A grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, pending before Congress, will 
cover 95 percent of the funding for the project. 

Bryant said he hopes to break ground on the runway by the spring of 2005. 

"We haven't seen substantial improvement to the runway since 1980," he said. 

 

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