Effingham County is renaming the Effingham County Memorial Airport following its change in status from a local airport to a regional airport roughly a year ago.
The Effingham County Board on Monday changef the name to the Effingham County Regional Airport to reflect its new status.
Nearby regional airports include the Coles County Memorial Airport.
During the board’s meeting, Effingham County Board member and Effingham County Airport Commission member Jeremy Deters explained the airport commission’s decision to change the airport’s name.
“I don’t know how much the public is aware of all the work that’s getting ready to be done out there, but it is going to significantly change what we can handle at this airport,” Deters said. “And it was decided by the Airport Commission that it’d be prudent to change the name from Effingham County Memorial Airport to the Effingham County Regional Airport to recognize the upgrade in our status.”
When the commission began considering changing the name of the airport, members discovered that airport’s name was originally meant to honor World War I veterans. Deters said that these veterans will still be honored with the beautiful veterans memorial in downtown Effingham.
Deters said in an interview the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to change the airport’s status to regional is largely due to the recent influx of funds the airport has received for capital improvement projects at the airport aimed at increasing its capacity. Projects include the extension of the runway from 5,100 feet to 6,000 feet.
“We’re getting several million dollars from the FAA and from the Illinois Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation,” Deters said. “And then after the runway expansion happens, it will give us capacity for larger jets, and we’re looking at options to get more companies in there to rent hangar space and to do more business out of the Effingham area.”
Effingham County Regional Airport Superintendent Greg Koester said in an interview that the extension of the runway is expected to begin in May of 2024, and there are also plans to break ground for the construction of a new 10-unit T-hangar next year.
“Our hangar space usually runs full,” Koester said. “Once that’s completed, those are projected to be full on day one as far as renters.”
While there haven’t been any commercial flights to the airport yet, Deters said there could potentially be some smaller commercial flights in the future.
Deters believes the airport’s recent growth and its new regional status is an “important step forward” for the county and the companies that do business in the area.
“It’s important that we have the ability for them to be able to reach out so that they don’t have to leave Effingham, and they’ll have the capacity to have more convenient travel in and out of the county,” Deters said.
According to Koester, the airport’s new status also means it will see an increase in funding through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“And with the upgrade to regional status, those funds have increased from $144,000 to $294,000 per year, so it’s probably more than doubled,” Koester said.
Koester also said that the airport will see an increase in its share of state aviation fuel tax receipts which range from $40,000 to $50,000 per year.
Additionally, the upgrade to regional status means the airport will likely start to see larger aircrafts which Koester says could increase the funds it receives from fuel sales.
Koester noted that the federal government subsidizes airports that provide connecting services in coordination with surrounding airports which is something Effingham County Regional Airport could do in the future.
“They will subsidize a private commercial company to run a service from Effingham to a larger airport,” Koester said. “Those opportunities may reveal themselves in the future after the runway extension.”
Koester is optimistic about the future of the airport considering its growth in recent years, and he said he and others with the airport are ready to make any adjustments necessary to continue growing with its regional status.
“Obviously, Effingham County, the community, the city of Effingham, we continue to see growth and the fact that there’s a need for the airport, that reflects positively on the community which is fantastic,” Koester said. “I would much rather have a growing airport than trying to keep a declining airport viable.
“We will have to probably look at tweaking our staffing and making sure that we have someone at the airport during more hours of the week.”