KENOVA -- The addition of a new airline and an increase in passenger boardings on existing carriers has created new opportunities for Tri-State Airport.
But it also has created several challenges, most notably of which is parking. Airport officials and area business leaders plan to talk to congressional representatives about providing funding for a three-level parking garage that would almost double the airport's parking capacity.
Growing pains such as parking are much better problems to have than the conundrum Tri-State has faced over the past 15 years, airport Director Larry Salyers said.
Boardings last year totaled 39,000, continuing a steady decline from the 92,000 passengers who flew out of Tri-State in 1992. But boardings this year are on pace to exceed last year's figures by the end of August.
Much of the increase is attributed to Allegiant Air, a low-cost carrier that began twice-weekly service between Tri-State and Orlando, Fla., in November. The service has done so well -- 88 percent of the available seats have been sold -- that Allegiant added a third flight this week to accommodate summer vacationers.
"It seems like a year ago we were taking the pulse of the airport to see if it was still alive," said Mark Bugher, president of the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Tri-State Airport Authority. "Now we have three airlines flying to four destinations and we're looking to add more."
Salyers is optimistic that Tri-State will add nonstop service to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in Clearwater, Fla., via Allegiant Air by as early as November. St. Petersburg ranked second among destinations for Tri-State Airport travelers in 2006. Orlando ranked first.
Salyers also has had discussions with Allegiant Air about offering service to Las Vegas. The airline first needs to acquire planes that can fly nonstop from Huntington to Las Vegas, he said.
"We realize that if we're going to continue this momentum, we have to do something short term and long term to address the parking problems," Salyers said.
The airport's 286-space parking lot is particularly jammed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays when Allegiant Air flies into and out of Tri-State, Salyers said. A 150-seat MD-80 arrives at Tri-State at 5:30 p.m. on those days and leaves at 6:05 p.m.
"We've found more and more people parking in areas where they don't really belong," Salyers said.
The short-term plan is to convert the employee section of the main parking lot into paid parking. That could add about 40 paid parking spaces, Salyers said. The airport also might pave a small area in the back of the parking lot that was used at one time as a launching pad for weather balloons to make up for lost employee spaces, he said.
The airport also is considering off-site parking just south of the runway near W.Va. 75 or in Ceredo, Salyers said. Shuttle service would be provided to and from the airport, he said.
In the meantime, the Tri-State Chamber Coalition, which consists of the chambers of commerce in Huntington, Ashland and Lawrence County, Ohio, will travel to Washington, in the next few months to seek support for a 250-space parking garage.
"We traveled there last year and were pleased to find that there were six senators and three representatives from three states who were interested in what happens at Tri-State Airport," Bugher said. "I'm confident there will be a good level of cooperation this time around."
According to preliminary estimates, the parking garage could cost $10 million, Salyers said.
Later this year, the airport will begin a second phase of improvements to its terminal and lobby. A new roof and ceilings were installed in the building last year. This year's improvements call for new carpet and tiling and updating restrooms. Expanding the baggage conveyor belt also might be included in the project, Salyers said.
