Business View Magazine | January 2020

160 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 the policy makers to do the upgrades and the expansion projects identified in this Master Plan. We’ll bond and then pay the bonds back out of the PFCs.” As the most southern airport in the state, Carney relates that there is a lot of northbound traffic that stops at Ketchikan to refuel before travelling on to other destinations in Alaska. According to Carney, the most attractive thing about Ketchikan International is that its runway is positioned so that there are no struggles with strong crosswinds. “You’re always headed directly into the wind,” he affirms. “And the runway is newly paved with new navaids. And there are no bumps and no permafrost issues.” Regarding any future growth of the Airport’s footprint, Carney admits that there is a great deal of land surrounding it that would be available, if needed, although he doubts it ever would be. At present, there are no home-based GA aircraft at Ketchikan and only four hangars – all are owned by private entities that lease space to transient aircraft and/or for needed overhauls of locally-owned planes; another is owned by Guardian Flight, a local medivac company that houses its emergency jets. “Our Airport reserve, unlike other airports, is large enough,” he notes. “And it’s uninhabited; there are no houses, no industries, or anything putting pressure on the Airport land. On the north end, we have an industrial site, where there used to be a sawmill, but it ceased to run about eight or nine years ago. And, right now, we have some small land leases going on there that don’t contribute that much capital to the Airport. So, I don’t see it as necessary.” For now, Ketchikan International Airport, the gateway to Alaska, will continue to service its local and transient general aircraft, its cargo carriers, as well as its commercial flyers. But they’ll still have to take the ferry to get there. PREFERRED VENDOR n Ketchikan Visitors Bureau www.Visit-Ketchikan.com