CAA: GA News, "Relocating Conway, Arkansas airport could cause sharp decline"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, October 10, 2002

Airport reactions likely mixed
Proposed move seen as having positive and negative effects
By MICHAEL FRAZIER 
The Log Cabin Democrat - Conway, Arkansas


Relocating Conway's airport could cause a sharp decline in the number of
corporate customers who use the facility to travel from across the
nation to the city for business, the owner of Conway Aviation Services
Inc. said Wednesday.

Bill Cope said he is against the proposed relocation of Dennis F.
Cantrell Field from east Conway to the Lollie Bottoms area south of the
city.

He's not alone.

Cope said 85 percent of his customers have voiced concern about moving
the airport, saying it would be less convenient.

"The people who use the airport would like it where it is," said Cope,
who leases the land and the building from the city.

While Cope said the move would not be economically feasible, Brad Lacy,
the director of Conway Development Corp., said the new site would
greatly benefit the city.

Unlike the current airport, Lacy said, the new site is not hemmed-in,
and would allow the city to build and market commercial space for
aviation-related industries.

As a result, he said, new jobs for residents would sprout up around the
new site.

The current airport also has the ability to support aviation-related
industries, Cope said.

"We can do that at our existing facilities," he said.

But Lacy said the main problem with Cantrell Field is that insurers of
some major corporations prohibit the companies from landing their planes
at the airport.

The insurers require that corporate aircraft land on runways that are at
least 5,000 feet.

The airport has two runways. One is 3,278 feet and the other is 4,875
feet. Neither can be expanded because they are bordered by Interstate 40
and industrial property.

Acxiom relocated its corporate jets from the airport to Little Rock
about two years ago. The data management company has offices in Conway
and Little Rock.

"It's a convenience issue," Lacy said. "New companies (may be) looking
at coming here, but their insurance won't allow them to land."

Cope said 95 percent of the corporations that use the airport can
legally land their planes at the facility.

The airport is designed to support any corporate aircraft that can seat
up to 15 people, Cope said.

"The airport is vital to the city," Cope said. "Virtually every major
corporation in the city of Conway either owns an aircraft or an aircraft
is used to come see them on a regular basis."

Cope said companies across the nation also use the airport. They include
corporations based in Boston, Idaho, Florida, Miami and New York. A
Canadian company also uses the city's airport.

Representatives from Wal-Mart fly to the city often for business
meetings with associates, Cope said.

On Tuesday, the Conway City Council appropriated funding for an
environmental study at the new site.

The Federal Aviation Administration suggested the study to ensure
construction of the airport would not interfere with bald eagles and
migratory birds.

The $63,150 study will be mostly paid by a FAA grant and the state
Department of Aeronautics. The city will pay only five percent, or
$3,108.

Mayor Tab Townsell said moving the airport to the Lollie Bottoms area
would attract more business, allow the city to better service corporate
customers and provide an opportunity for the city to redevelop the land
used by the current airport.


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