Norfolk International Airport Closes Crosswind Runway 14/32 for Redevelopment

Norfolk International Airport (ORF) has informed pilots they can no longer utilize its Runway 14/32 for takeoffs or landings. The notice marks the latest step in the airport’s strategic effort to permanently close its little-used crosswind runway as the airport prepares toward redeveloping properties it owns both on and adjacent to ORF’s existing airfield.

Spanning only 4,876 feet in length, Runway 14/32 is too short to accommodate most commercial aircraft types presently operating at ORF. In recent years it has accounted for less than 1% of the airport’s annual operations. At 9,001 feet, ORF’s adjacent Runway 05/23 has sufficient capacity to serve the needs of airlines and general aviation users in the region for the foreseeable future.

In March, ORF completed an Environmental Assessment in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration. That process evaluated and ruled out as impractical alternatives to a full closure, including extending or shortening Runway 14/32. Those options would have brought excessive costs, limited benefits and conflicts with nearby roads and railways. The runway’s closure will also reduce airspace conflicts with Naval Air Station Oceana. 

In the coming months, airport staff and contractors will remove portions of the runway’s existing pavement as well as airfield lighting and navigational aids associated with Runway 14/32. Crews are already developing a new airport entrance intersection that will tie into Robin Hood Road once it is realigned across property the runway now occupies. Plans for the other airport-owned properties will be open to redevelopment following the runway’s closure are not yet finalized but could include a new cargo terminal and apron, a new de-icing apron as well as additional general aviation hangars. Off-airport properties could be converted into commercial, light industrial or residential uses that will generate new tax revenues for the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

ORF is in the early stages of a nearly $1 billion modernization effort known as Transform ORF. A three-gate extension of Concourse A as well as a new international arrivals facility will open this winter, with further improvements to follow over the next several years. ORF served more than 4.86 million passengers last year. Its nine airlines offer nonstop service that connects Coastal Virginia and northeastern North Carolina to more than 40 nonstop U.S. destinations.