New Jersey Reveals New Airport System Plan

Aviation activity in New Jersey is projected to increase from 4,4,00 aircraft today to 4,800 by 2020, an average annual growth rate of 0.65 percent, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT)’s State Airport System Plan (SASP), released recently. General aviation operations are forecast to grow to 2.39 million by 2020, up from 1.9 million in 2000 for an average annual growth rate of 0.94 percent.
The SASP identified the need to spend an estimated $160 million over the next several years to improve and upgrade New Jersey’s general aviation airports at a time when those airports generate $1.7 billion in annual economic benefit. This analysis showed that the total number of airports in the state system is ample, but found that the type and distribution of airports, especially those serving the growing corporate and business general aviation, facilities could be expanded.
More than 85 percent of airports in the system offer demand/capacity ratios that are below the FAA’s critical trigger point of 60 percent, the report said. However, it added several airports are at or over the activity that prompts either mild or severe aircraft delays including, not surprisingly, Newark Liberty International, Atlantic City International, Trenton-Mercer, Essex County, Morristown and Teterboro.
Despite FAA and NTSB continuing emphasis on runway safety, only 54 percent of airports meet runway/taxiway separation standards, while only 65 percent meet the runway width standards, according to the report. Only 23 percent meet the runway safety area width/length requirements, but the study found that 87 percent have good runway conditions.
Commissioner Kris Kolluri released the comprehensive review of New Jersey’s entire airport system aimed at the preservation of the existing system of public use airports in New Jersey. NJDOT will use a “Fix it First” investment strategy to preserve general aviation facilities and services, he indicated. Through its implementation of this approach, NJDOT will invest in the rehabilitation and improvement of existing facilities within existing property lines and land use patterns. Kolluri called New Jersey’s airport system one of the most unique and complex in the nation.
“The state’s diverse airports range in size from small general aviation airports with turf runways to Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the nation’s busiest commercial airports,” he said. “The airport system’s unique ownership patterns also contribute to its complexity. Approximately 28 of New Jersey’s 46 system airports are privately owned. This ownership distribution contrasts with that of most states…where airport systems are typically publicly owned by entities including states, counties, city, special authority or another local jurisdiction. The SASP will ensure that the airport system meets the state’s air transportation needs and continues to be a cornerstone of economic growth, diversification, and development.”
Citing the airport system’s benefit to the economy, Kolluri noted NJDOT conducted an economic impact analysis which concluded that New Jersey’s general aviation airport system creates more than 18,000 aviation-related and aviation-dependent jobs, with an estimated annual payroll of at least $624.7 million. New Jersey receives an estimated $1.7 billion in annual economic benefits from the operation of the public use airport system and from spending by visitors who arrive in New Jersey via one of the system airports using general aviation. Commercial aviation service provides an additional 216,400 jobs, $6.5 billion in payroll benefits, and $12.2 billion in output.
New Jersey’s airport system includes 45 airports, one heliport and a single seaplane base. In addition, public use airports accommodate 2.5 million general aviation operations annually and 400,000 commercial aviation operations which use the state’s three commercial service airports. Some 35 million passengers are boarded and New Jersey airports annually and there are 4,400 general aviation aircraft registered in the state. Thirty-seven of the 46 airports have paved runways, nine of which exceed 5,000 feet, while 14 airports have more than one runway Thirty