Jun. 23—Extending Yeager Airport's runway to 7,000 feet and adding 1,000-foot safety overrun areas at each end accounts for the lion's share of capital improvement spending envisioned for the Charleston airport in the next 10 years.

A 10-year capital improvement plan approved by the airport's governing board on Wednesday identified 20 proposed construction projects as high-priority, and estimated that it would cost about $297 million to complete them by the end of the 2030 fiscal year. The planned runway/safety area extension, with an estimated cost of $245 million, accounts for 83 percent of all spending in the high priority category.

The 10-year plan, compiled by Landrum & Brown, Inc., a Cincinnati-based aviation consulting firm, is designed to help airport officials prioritize which capital improvement projects to tackle, and plan how to finance them and obtain needed regulatory clearances.

Projects on the list may or may not come to fruition, since their development is largely dependent on federal, state and local funding sources that are available at the time of planned implementation.

"We'll be revising it from year to year," said Nick Keller, the Charleston airport's director and CEO.

A favorable environmental impact study, expected to get underway later this year, is needed before the runway/safety area project can advance. That project involves annexing and placing fill in a portion of neighboring Coonskin Park.

Other projects on the 10-year plan's high priority list include installing a new jet bridge, along with new roofing, restrooms and HVAC gear at Yeager's passenger terminal, at an estimated cost of $3.7 million; relocating the airport's rental car service area, $8 million; runway rehabilitation, $8.7 million, and building a new parking apron for the general aviation area, $3.4 million.

The plan also lists eight "medium priority" projects, including $6 million for a second hangar and a classroom expansion at Marshall University's new flight school in 2025, if student demand justifies the development. A seven-item "low priority" list includes a new $8 million hangar for corporate aircraft.

Federal funds are expected to cover about 70% of construction and planning costs for approved projects on the list.

Reach Rick Steelhammer at [email protected], 304-348-5169 or follow @rsteelhammer on Twitter.

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