A decades-old airport record helped Connecticut’s Danbury Municipal Airport secure a $4.2 million FAA grant to rehabilitate its secondary runway, keeping it in service rather than facing possible closure.
Officials uncovered records from the 1990s identifying the pavement as a noise-abatement runway rather than simply a crosswind runway. That designation made the project eligible for Airport Improvement Program funding after previous grant requests had been denied.
Airport Administrator Mike Safranek told the Stamford Advocate he discovered the paperwork while reviewing archived airport records. Once the runway’s historical designation was documented, the FAA approved funding for the long-needed rehabilitation project, which the Danbury City Council has since accepted.
Without the grant, airport officials said the city likely would not have been able to afford the estimated $4 million reconstruction project. The aging runway had deteriorated to the point where closing it was being considered.
Although the runway is not the airport’s primary landing surface, it provides an alternate runway when crosswinds make operations on the main runway less favorable. Preserving that capability was a major factor behind the airport’s efforts to secure federal assistance.
According to the Stamford Advocate, Danbury Municipal Airport is one of Connecticut’s busiest general aviation airports, with about 70,000 annual operations and is home to is roughly 220 based aircraft. The airport supports flight schools, charter operators, maintenance businesses and aircraft storage facilities.
Construction on the rehabilitated runway is expected to begin in the coming months.
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