Change to 'Roanoke International Airport' is still up in the air: The proposal focuses on the airport's capability of accepting imports or international charter flights.

    July 20, 2007
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    Jul. 19--Officials at the Roanoke Regional Airport want to give it broader appeal, and that could mean replacing the word "regional" in its name with "international."

    Never mind that Roanoke Regional doesn't have any scheduled nonstop flights to or from foreign cities.

    The new moniker, if voted through by the airport commission, would reflect changes made in 2001 that bestowed U.S. customs services on the southwest region's largest airport. It could also help boost the airport's profile, giving it the kind of runway credibility that's long been enjoyed by Greensboro and Richmond, by making the airport more attractive to charter carriers and businesses that bring in international cargo.

    Will that do much to lure international service to Roanoke? Industry experts say that's unlikely. But it could help bring in more charter carriers that fly overseas.

    "It's more of a marketing thing," said aviation consultant David Beckerman of BACK Aviation Solutions in Washington, D.C. "It adds a sense of size to the airport."

    Talk of a name change first surfaced in 2001 when officials learned Roanoke Regional had been included within the service boundaries of the Dublin-based U.S. Customs office.

    At that time, the airport had plans to make the swap, but then Sept. 11 hit and the airport quickly shut off any unnecessary expenditures, said Jacqueline Shuck, the airport's executive director.

    Airport officials have now resurrected the idea to coincide with plans for a new terminal entrance off Valley View Boulevard, which would require new signage if built, said Jay Turner, the airport commission chairman. In anticipation, the airport wanted to take a hard look at how much it might cost to make the name switch and what exactly it would entail, he said.

    "There may be some people that would say it is pretentious," he said, because Roanoke currently has no nonstop flights going overseas. "But others may see that it sets us apart because other small airports don't have those capabilities," he said, referring to the ability to offer U.S. Customs inspections.

    Besides, when it comes to naming airports, the rules tend to be rather lax, especially for international designations.

    "There's nothing that restricts you from using international in your name," he said, although it tends to be discouraged by International Civil Aviation Organization, if the airport lacks U.S. Customs services.

    Take the Richmond International Airport, which currently has zero nonstop flights overseas. "Having that name doesn't say you have international flights. It says you have capability to handle international flights," said Troy Bell, spokesman for the Richmond airport.

    The same is true of Greensboro's airport, which goes by the name Piedmont Triad International. The airport hasn't had nonstop international service since before Sept. 11, and that was one route to Toronto, said Ted Johnson, executive director of the airport authority.

    "There's no real good reason we're called international, We certainly don't have any international flights out of here," Johnson said. In fact, the Greensboro airport has endured several name changes over the years, he said, adding that he has counted at least five since the 1960s.

    In the early 1980s, for example, it went by the cumbersome Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem Airport, before tacking on the international when it went to Piedmont Triad to incorporate the various regions, he said.

    For Roanoke, the name change could have some economic development advantages in selling its customs service to companies that haul freight in from overseas, said Turner. It could also help draw in charters that fly seasonally to various international locales, such as the Caribbean and Mexico.

    "It conveys a certain sense of size and scope," Beckerman said. "Some people see regional and think they may not have jet service."

    Making the swap will be no easy -- or inexpensive -- feat. Anything emblazoned with the airport logo or name -- charts, reports, letterhead and signage -- will have to be changed.

    And there's bound to be some bureaucratic hurdles, Turner said, such as getting clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration.

    To make the name change, airport officials will have to pull that money from its annual budget, which is completed next spring, so the commission is still a ways off in making a final decision, Turner said.

    The airport was last renamed in 1983 from Roanoke Municipal Airport.

    Still, Turner said, Roanoke International Airport is firmly on the radar as an option.

    And, he said, "I think it has a good ring to it."

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