Plattsburgh International Airport is a county public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district of the city of Plattsburgh, within the Town of Plattsburgh in Clinton County, New York, United States. About 85 percent of the airport's passengers in 2013 were Canadians, mostly from Montreal.
The airport is located at the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base and has been owned by Clinton County since 2002. The old base is still being redeveloped by Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation, established in 1995 after the airbase closed. The airport's massive facilities have been upgraded to civilian aviation standards and the county fully transitioned here from Clinton County Airport as of June 2007.
Passenger service began on June 18, 2007, and Clinton County Airport has been shut down since then. All airline service in Plattsburgh goes through the airport, which has expanded its terminal building to accommodate more passengers and provide more gates for aircraft. Scheduled passenger service to Washington D.C. at this airport is subsidized by the United States Department of Transportation via the Essential Air Service program.
The airport was closed to air traffic from April 13, 2021, to approximately June 22, 2021 due to the middle section of the runway being repaved.
It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year). As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 45,998 passenger boardings (enplanements) in 2008, 73,159 enplanements in 2009, 94,808 in 2010, and 139,698 in 2011.
History
Plattsburgh Air Force Base closed on September 25, 1995, pursuant to the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1990 and the recommendations of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
After the base was decommissioned, Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation was created to manage the property. The Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation split up the base into 165 parcels for redevelopment.
The idea of opening a new commercial airport at the site of the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base dated back to at least 2000. At the time, the United States Air Force still owned the runway, which made converting it into a civilian airport more difficult. Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation and Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce both favored the opening of a new commercial airport and closing the old Clinton County Airport. The county voted in favor of the move on July 13, 2000. County legislators held a public hearing about the idea on December 12, 2001; most of the residents who spoke at the meeting were in favor of the idea.
In September 2003, the Federal Aviation Administration awarded Plattsburgh International Airport $624,200 of funding to build a passenger terminal. In November 2003, the federal transportation funding bill included $2 million for the passenger terminal. A grant from the Federal Aviation Administration funded security improvements in August 2004.
In 2004, Precision Jet nearly selected to operate the new airport, but the county decided not to approve the contract because of a lack of detail in the business plan, concerns about whether the Federal Aviation Administration would approve the proposed terminal, questions about whether it was legal to give the company exclusive development rights, and concerns that delegating all control over decisions could negatively impact the county's long-term economic future. On March 1, 2005, the county ended its contract with Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corporation to operate the airport.
Congress voted to approve a $721,000 grant for Essential Air Service for Plattsburgh International Airport in November 2004. The airport received another $1.6 million of federal funding for runway construction in March 2005 and $2.6 million of federal funding for construction of the terminal in April 2005. The county was approved for $500,000 of federal funding to construct an access road to the airport in August 2005.
The airport's official groundbreaking was held on August 17, 2005, and it officially opened on April 26, 2006.
Airport facilities
Plattsburgh International Airport's facilities include a runway and a concrete ramp for cargo and aircraft. Plattsburgh also has no night curfews or flight restrictions and enjoys calm weather year-round (97% VMC). It is also a Foreign Trade Zone and Empire Zone, making it a virtually tax free zone for many enterprises.