Will Oak Ridge airport pay for itself?

March 6, 2024 by Ben Pounds

The city of Oak Ridge is looking at whether a new airport on its west end might generate revenue.

While most of Oak Ridge’s residents live in Anderson County, the airport would be on the Roane County side, at Heritage Center, the former site of K-25 gaseous diffusion plant near Oak Ridge Turnpike. An official city website has described it as potentially having a 5,000-foot runway.

At a recent work session, Randal Wiedeman, president of R.A. Weideman & Associates Inc. Aviation Consultants, addressed the City Council virtually and said the projected net operating revenue ranged from losing $117,600 to gaining $64,400 during its fifth year, the year by which it is likely to be fully operational.

The difference between these two numbers comes down to one item: whether the airport sells an additional 91,000 gallons of jet fuel.

“Our idea is not to promise the moon when you’re getting into the airport business,” Wideman said.

He said that airplane fuel revenue is an ever-changing variable, with new issues such as electric planes complicating it.

“They’re still trying to figure out how to charge for charging,” he said.

The firm looked at other airports with 5,000-foot runways and the distance by road from the central business district, in Oak Ridge’s case in Knoxville, and the types of jets involved.

Using comparisons, it looked at revenue from hangar rents and fuel sales as well as costs like maintenance, administration, fuel personnel, utilities, insurance and support vehicles.

Officials have described it as a site for private and cargo flights rather than the large commercial passenger flights that fly from McGhee-Tyson.

“The airport will support growth in the business, industrial, and tourism sectors and allow leaders to fly to Oak Ridge, putting the city on the map for technology companies,” according to a post on the city’s website listing the benefits of having an airport in Oak Ridge.

“It would incentivize industry developing nearby, like Coquí RadioPharmaceuticals Corp., which is an Eastern U.S. distribution company that develops medical isotopes. The DOE has also voiced its support for the project and stated that it will benefit their operations in Oak Ridge.”

Wideman said the study didn’t look at the airport’s further effects on the overall local economy or some of the start-up costs.

He said a full business plan could answer some of these questions.