Jan. 25—BEVERLY — Beverly Regional Airport plans to lengthen its main runway by 600 feet as part of a $20 million effort to upgrade the city-owned airport in the next few years.
Airport Manager Gloria Bouillon said the current runway is "not adequate" for some of the aircraft that use the airport. Planes are forced to carry fewer passengers or stop to re-fuel in order to meet the "payload" weight requirements that the runway is allowed to handle under Federal Aviation Administration regulations, she said.
"They have to reduce their payload in order to take off or land with that weight," Bouillon said. "The increased runway length will allow them to carry the adequate payload they need to be carrying, including fuel and passengers on board."
The plan to lengthen the runway is included in a new 20-year "master plan" that airport officials are developing. Officials are holding a series of online public meetings on the master plan for the three communities — Beverly, Danvers and Wenham — where the airport is located.
The plan would extend the airport's main runway, which is 5,001 feet long, by adding 300 feet of pavement on grassy "safety areas" at each end to make takeoffs safer, according to a presentation at the first of those meetings last week.
In an interview, Bouillon said the longer runway will not expand the footprint of the 470-acre airport. "That's an important message we want to get across," she said. "We're not taking any additional acreages, but it builds us a better safety margin."
Construction on the runway would begin in 2024, Bouillon said.
Bouillon said the changes need to be made to keep up with FAA standards. Beverly Airport was built in 1928 and used by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Other planned changes include narrowing the airport's secondary runway, realigning taxiways and the vehicle service road, and upgrading lighting to LEDs.
Bouillon said the reconstruction of the main runway would cost just under $13 million, and related projects would bring to the total to almost $20 million. She said 90% of the cost would be funded by the FAA, 5% by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division, and the rest through Beverly Airport's enterprise fund. Money from the enterprise fund comes from airport revenues, not from taxes, she said.
The number of takeoffs and landings at Beverly Airport has actually increased during the pandemic, in part because of reduced commercial flying, Bouillon said. There were more than 69,000 takeoffs and landings in 2020. Officials predict a "modest" annual growth rate of 1.2% over the next 20 years, according to a presentation at last week's public meeting.
Beverly Airport has an annual economic output of $34.3 million in the region, according to a 2019 Massachusetts Airport Economic Impact Study.
"Fortunately we're doing well," Bouillon said. "We're in a good position. The demographics in this area are still very strong. We've brought on new businesses that have expanded. We've done so much advertising that the airport has become nationally recognized. Commercial Realtors are wanting to put developers right next to the airport."
The next two public meetings on the master plan are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at 6 p.m. Links to the meetings can be found at beverlyairport.com.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.
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