NAPLES, Fla — As discussions about moving the Naples Airport continue, new details have emerged about the feasibility and potential cost of such a project.
According to a consulting firm hired by the city, relocating the airport would cost between $1 billion and $1.6 billion. The firm released its final draft study, providing an overview of the estimated costs and logistics for four locations being considered as possible sites for a new airport.
The project is still in the initial planning phase, but this study opens the door for the Airport Authority Commissioners to potentially push the plan forward.
"We could not find one person who uses the airport, who is a tenant of the airport, who wants the airport moved" said Christel Johnson, a local real estate broker in Naples. Johnson has been actively protesting the relocation plans and created a petition a few months ago that has garnered hundreds of signatures.
"There is one board member that's definitely going to push for it," she added. "But I think the rest of them are very sensible with common sense, and they're listening to the majority of the public, the people that use the airport, and they're going to say, 'Who's going to pay for this?'"
The Airport Authority study acknowledges that moving the airport would be a 15 to 20-year venture. Despite local pushback, the study does have its supporters.
"That small site that we have, which is only one square mile in today's airport, has fundamentally outgrown its size," said Joseph Migliara with the Old Naples Association.
Migliara was struck by the estimated price tag but said the move makes sense in the long run, considering factors like noise, the county's growth, and recent accidents, including a plane crash on I-75 that may signify the area airport is outgrowing its size.
"So yeah, I think long-term thinking about it and coming up with a practical solution to move the airport to a site that would accommodate the whole county, because right now it's beginning to operate as a regional airport. It's no longer a municipal airport," Migliara added.
The Naples Airport Authority Board of Commissioners is expected to discuss the study at its next meeting on August 15.
