"Stockton airport options open up"

Thursday, October 5, 2006

Stockton airport options open up 
BY REED FUJII 
The Stockton (CA) Record


STOCKTON - The Sacramento port of entry established today that encompasses
Stockton will have little impact on Stockton Metropolitan Airport's ongoing
effort to build a customs inspection station to serve future international
flights to Mexico and elsewhere, officials said.

But it does clarify the airport's status as it moves forward in planning the
customs station, said Victor Mow, San Joaquin County supervisor.

"The bottom line means we can have international flights," Mow said
Wednesday.

Establishment of a new federal port of entry in Sacramento, carved out of
what had been the San Francisco port of entry, primarily affects the status
of Sacramento International Airport.

Previously, Sacramento had been a so-called "user-fee" airport, responsible
to pay from local fees all expenses of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
services and personnel. That burden will now shift to federal taxpayers and
passenger-processing fees collected by the CBP.

Stockton Metropolitan will likely remain a user-fee airport, said Barry
Rondinella, airport director.

"We had hoped there would be an immediate fiscal benefit from being in the
newly named port of entry, but it doesn't look like that's something we can
look forward to," he said.

Mow and fellow Supervisor Jack Sieglock met with CBP officials in
Washington, D.C., after regional customs authorities initially rejected
plans for a Stockton airport inspection station. San Joaquin County
legislators also intervened on behalf of the project.

"We now have a contact person that we're working with that will review the
plans and specifications," Mow said.

He expressed confidence that the project can now move forward and
accommodate previously proposed air service to Mexico. After similar
international flights were begun in Fresno, public demand for tickets far
exceeded all forecasts, Mow noted.

That sort of response was seen by Allegiant Air, which began offering
service between Stockton and Las Vegas, three days a week, on June 16. The
airline expanded service to five days a week in August.

Rondinella said the airline is currently filling nearly 80 percent of
available seats, enticing travelers with fares as low as $59 one way. Friday
flights, not surprisingly, are the most popular, with load factors running
around 95 percent, he said.

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