The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced a grant of $1 million for the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport to recruit, initiate, and support new air service from Kalamazoo to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. Congressman Fred Upton says this is good news as the airport works to expand for that additional route.
“We know we’re going to have larger planes that are going to need longer runways,” Upton said. “This is not only for the future of the Kalamazoo airport, but also for safety, particularly as we think about winter and ice and those things that can accumulate on runways. But there’s the space there. It’s been a long time in the planning, and this is going to speed it up a bit.”
Upton says southwest Michigan’s airports are important assets to the region, and the grant will help create jobs, spur investment, and expand passenger service from Kalamazoo to Charlotte. Upton has submitted a community project funding request through the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program to lengthen the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek Airport’s runway by about 1,150 feet to attract more consumers and air markets to the region.
