During the search for a possible new airport site, critics of closing Friedman Memorial Airport have questioned whether a distant new facility would succeed economically and attract sufficient airline traffic and passengers.
Officials of the Federal Aviation Administration and FAA consultant Landrum & Brown finally will answer those questions Tuesday night at an airport authority meeting.
Airport manager Rick Baird said both organizations would spread out data that will explain long-range aviation activity forecasts and an economic analysis of the passenger market for a new airport. He said the data should answer a lot of the concerns of the north-valley business community that has been sharply pessimistic that a new airport would continue to attract sufficient traffic.
One element of the presentation will be an "unconstrained forecast" of air traffic—that is, airline service predicted for an airport with all-weather navigation systems and sufficient runway and terrain clearance for aircraft larger than those now serving Friedman.
Three possible sites have survived early stages of an Environmental Impact Statement study—one just inside Camas County along U.S. Highway 20 east of Fairfield; one nearby just inside Blaine County along the highway, and one east of state Highway 75 in south Blaine County and north of Shoshone.
Baird said a U.S. Bureau of Land Management official also would appear to discuss BLM land disposal on which the south Blaine County site would be built.
The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, in the conference room of the Old Blaine County Courthouse.
