Story Highlights
- Passenger demand, which is largely concentrated in the Puget Sound region, could rise to 107 million annual passengers by 2050.
- Sea-Tac and Paine Field combined can only handle about 67 million passengers annually under both airports’ growth plans.
- The state’s airport system is facing a projected funding shortfall of $3.7 billion, part of $5.2 billion in expected, regular operating costs for Washington’s network of airports.
A state agency has raised a slew of concerns for Washington’s airport network this week, including a spike in capacity needs, cargo shortfalls and a $3.27 billion funding gap.
Those concerns, published in the Washington State Aviation Plan, point to infrastructure challenges across the 133 airports, ranging from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to a firefighting airport in the Cascades.
It’s the first time the Washington State Department of Transportation, which published the findings, has looked at airport capacity needs in nearly 10 years, part of a recurring check-in as the state’s commercial airports try to adapt to rising demand over the next 15 years.
“Aviation is evolving quickly, and planning needs to keep pace,” David Ison, who oversaw the report for the WSDOT, said in a news release. “This plan helps ensure Washington is ready for the next generation of aviation while continuing to meet today’s needs.”
Those findings come from a report authored by Kimley-Horn, an engineering and design consulting firm, that used data from a variety of agencies and models, including the Federal Aviation Administration and Puget Sound Regional Council.
If Washington doesn’t address those issues, Ison said in an email to the Business Journal, the state will not meet FAA design and safety standards, U.S. competitiveness will fall and the airports will struggle to meet customer-service expectations.