BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Aeronautics Commission is getting a $433,000 federal grant to study the state’s booming aviation industry.
Airline boardings at North Dakota’s eight large airports have almost doubled in the western oil boom, from 719,000 passengers in 2009 to about 1.2 million in 2013. All eight airports - in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck, Minot, Jamestown, Devils Lake, Williston and Dickinson - now have jet service.
A study of aviation issues that is typically completed every five years was last done in 2010, and “the numbers are significantly different since then,” state Aeronautics Commission Executive Director Kyle Wanner told The Bismarck Tribune.
The study will look at the economic impacts of airports, and also at ways to improve aviation throughout the state and meet infrastructure demands. The funding is through the federal Transportation Department, according to U.S. Sens. John Hoeven, a Republican, and Democrat Heidi Heitkamp, who brought Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Michael Huerta to North Dakota last spring to get a firsthand look at aviation challenges.
“These new DOT grants are helping us achieve our goal of updating our state’s airports so they can meet the demands of the increasing number of businesses and individuals who rely on them to accomplish the work that is driving our state’s economic growth,” Hoeven said in a statement.
The FAA also is providing more than $704,000 for taxiway work at the Grand Forks airport and $38,000 for similar work at the Cavalier airport.
“Building out and strengthening our aviation infrastructure in North Dakota is critical to making sure our economy continues to boom,” Heitkamp said in a statement.
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