Airport officials get creative to add parking, as passenger numbers continue to rise; interest growing in opportunity zone

Yahoo

17-04-2025

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Johnstown Cambria County Airport Authority officials have an issue with their plan to add a new parking lot in 2026.
The airport's ever-increasing traffic isn't waiting for next year's planned upgrade, board officials said.
It's prompted the authority to find a short-term solution, with plans approved to have staff realign one parking lot's boundary to add approximately 35 more spaces.
'The bad news is that we're out of parking. The good news is that it's because the lot is full,' said authority Chairman Tim McIlwain, referencing the continued growth in travelers.
Because airport staff are able to do the work, rather than a multi-month public bid process with a contractor, the project is expected to start by early summer, airport Manager Cory Cree said.
Crews will relocate a perimeter fence for the airport's long-term parking lot 12 feet closer to the runway, he said.
It will create space for staff to stripe between 30 and 40 more parking spaces alongside the terminal building, Cree said.
As is, the main lot in front of the terminal and the long-term lot have a combined 250 spots now, so the modifications will increase capacity by approximately 15%.
Airport Operations Supervisor Josh Keyser said dumpsters for a trash collection area were also moved in recent weeks to add a few more parking spots.
The airport's 2025 passenger counts illustrate why the space is needed.
Through the year's first quarter, combined inbound and outbound passenger counts have topped 8,300 – with enplanements, or paid departures, for March alone setting a record for the third year in a row at 1,673, figures show.
By comparison, the airport boarded 1,100 passengers in March just two years earlier.
Add in the fact Balance's restaurant is also now open, and it has resulted in full or nearly full parking lots much of this winter – with the airport's busiest travel season still ahead.
Cree noted plans are moving forward to build a third parking lot in 2026.
TransSystems, the authority's engineer, is working to complete the design and permitting process later this year to enable a 48-space parking lot to be developed alongside Airport Road, Cree said. The lot will be located just west of the replica of Lt Col. Buzz Wagner's P-40 Warhawk fighter plane.
If all goes as planned, the new lot will be advertised for bids by February 2026 for springtime construction that same year.
Essential Air Service contractFor years, federal Essential Air Service contract renewals marked a time of uncertainty for Johnstown's airport.
That isn't expected to be the case this year.
The U.S. Department of Transportation will receive proposals until May 7 from carriers interested in serving the airport under the federally funded program, which was designed to help rural areas maintain air service.
Johnstown's airport authority officials will be reviewing all submissions to make their recommendation to U.S. transportation officials but, at this point, they anticipate backing SkyWest Airlines' bid to continue serving Johnstown.
Authority officials have credited SkyWest's reliable service to Chicago O'Hare International and Washington-Dulles in Virginia as a key reason passenger totals have soared the past three years.
The EAS program itself also appears to be on stable footing under President Donald Trump's administration heading toward 2026.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, highlighted the importance of the program last month while questioning then-U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary nominee Steven Bradbury during a confirmation hearing, and Bradbury responded offering the Trump administration's support.
'The president and (U.S. Transportation) Secretary have made very clear, firm support for Essential Air Service,' Bradbury said, noting a congressional majority also supports the program.
Other regional airports, including Altoona-Blair County Airport in Martinsburg and DuBois Regional, are also Essential Air Service airports whose contracts are renewed through the program.
'Opportunity Zone' interest
Cree told board members that interest in the airport's approximately 130-acre Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone has picked up sharply in recent weeks.
The undeveloped property offers tax incentives for businesses that locate on the site. An overlapping Airport Land Development Zone offers a separate incentive option – a $2,100 tax credit for each full-time employee whose time is at least 90% based at facility on the site.
Cree said one unnamed business toured the airport property this spring considering a space to house its aircraft for East Coast business.
Two more have meetings set up between late April and early May
Cree said the airport's recent growth, and plans to build a Regional Jet hangar and aviation 'innovation center' are a big part of the draw.
St. Francis University, working with airport officials and fixed-base operator Nulton Aviation, launched an aircraft maintenance school on-site in 2024 – and airport officials said last year that part of the innovation center could be designed to attract a business that would need workers to maintain aircraft at the facility.
Funds are dedicated to get site work approved in 2026 for the hangar project, if a state Department of Community and Economic Development 'PA SITES' grant can be secured this year to cover the remaining cost, Cree said.