HARTFORD, Conn — A nearly two-thousand-page report by BFJ Planning explores the options available for Hartford’s only airport.
In 2022, state lawmakers hired New York based BFJ Planning to conduct economic and environmental feasibility studies to explore what could be done with Hartford-Brainard Airport and the property it sits on. After recent debate on whether to close the airport the study recommended keeping it open but with some changes.
The report recommends the small cross wind runway be closed and the area be converted for warehouses and parking spaces.
Michael Teiger, President of the Hartford-Brainard Airport Association hopes the development in place of the potentially closed runway is additional hangers or used for aviation purposes. “The future of aviation will be electric aircraft or drone operations, or even the exciting vertical takeoff and landing stuff,” said Teiger.
Teiger hopes Connecticut lawmakers see the airport as way to bring more business to Hartford while being a part of the future of aviation.
The report suggests that closure of the airport for industrial or mixed commercial and residential development would be costly. Those options would cost the state upwards of $1 billion.
Despite the price tag state lawmakers could still decide to close the airport.
“We’re afraid it's still not off the table to close the airport but a repeated recommendation has been to keep the airport open and has to be acted on by legislation in the state senate. It's not a private airport and airport is owned by the Connecticut airport authority at the state legislature in their decision making decide to pass legislation to close the airport and it has to get FAA approval, but that would be the mechanisms to close the airport entirely,” said Teiger.
The report has been submitted to the Senate Finance Committee in the Connecticut General Assembly which is expected to hold multiple hearings on the matter before making a final decision.
Leaving the future of Hartford-Brainard up in the air, for now.
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Jake Garcia is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. He can be reached at jgarcia@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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