A new website created by the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation, in collaboration with industry experts, is providing a close-up look at all 140 public-use airports across the state and their impact on the communities they serve. Online dashboards provide the conditions of airport runways, economic impact data, future airport needs and more.
“Every airport serves a unique and important role for their community,” said Bob Brock, KDOT Director of Aviation. “It is this uniqueness that makes credible data on individual airports even more important to local, state and national decision-makers.”
The Division of Aviation worked with aviation industry leaders to publish key airport performance data online. Two new tools on this website offer precise aviation economic impact data for each community as well as current information on the status of airport pavement health used to program long-term airport investments.
“With this combination of data for every airport, KDOT expects significant improvement in projects that deliver the most positive impact for the community as well as increased capacity to complete projects more efficiently,” Brock said.
The KDOT Aviation website includes information on how communities and airport operators can apply for grants, most notably through the Kansas Airport Improvement Program. For 22 years, KAIP grants have enabled communities to partner with KDOT on 820-plus airport improvement projects totaling nearly $200 million in value. In turn, these Kansas public-use airports support nearly 34,000 jobs and roughly $11 billion of on-airport economic impact within the state.
