AIRPORT MANAGER WANTS TO MARKET A REGIONAL FACILITY

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport has been called one of the city's most valuable assets. Unfortunately, it's also one of its best-kept secrets.

Airport Manager Randy Holdman wants to change that, through a vigorous marketing campaign aimed at improving the quality of the airport's commercial and general aviation and developing industry at the site.

"I think Cape Girardeau has an excellent, regional facility," Holdman said. "But I also think its been underutilized for too long. Really, the sky's the limit in terms of development at the airport."

One of the keys to that development is attracting additional airlines here. Holdman said expanding the commercial airline market in Cape Girardeau would help lower costs to passengers.

The airport now is served only by Trans World Express (TWE) with connecting flights to St. Louis. And although travelers receive TWE price breaks if they continue their flight from St. Louis with Trans World Airlines (TWA), connections with other airlines can drive up considerably the cost of the Cape Girardeau flight.

"Many of these people now drive or use (Bootheel Area Rapid Transport) because of the cost of flying to St. Louis without a Trans World connection," Holdman said. "While TWE, I believe, is doing a good job in terms of reliability and service, I think that would only be bolstered by competition with another airline."

In an effort to better market the airport to potential airlines, Holdman has tried to determine where business and leisure travelers fly most often out of Cape Girardeau.

A survey of travel agents and business travelers in the area found overwhelming support for a Chicago connection. The number of travelers who reported flying to Chicago was more than double those flying to any other destination.

Holdman has been trying to secure an airline connection with Midway in Chicago. He said he's also trying to add a southern destination.

"There are about 650 people a month going to Chicago right now," he said. "The challenge is to convince Midway that Cape Girardeau is a viable market for them.

"With St. Louis the only destination, when the weather at Lambert is bad, nobody flies out of Cape," Holdman added. "Other airlines and destinations would give travelers a choice."

TWE runs three flights a day Monday through Friday, at 7:30 and 10:30 a.m., and 6:30 p.m. There are three flights over the weekend, two Saturday and one Sunday, which was changed last month from an evening flight to the afternoon.

"That earlier flight on Sunday was another thing business travelers and travel agents told us was needed," Holdman said. "TWE agreed to move the flight up in the afternoon."

The airport manager said another key to developing the airport is to find a way to foster general aviation in the region. Although TWE enplanements have climbed steadily this year, overall boardings continue to plunge.

"Transient traffic at the airport has decreased 20 percent every year for the past 10 years," Holdman said.

He hopes an ambitious airport improvements plan will help turn that trend around.

A $1.1 million renovated terminal building was completed last fall, and another $3.3 million in projects have been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

They include a new parking lot, a firefighting vehicle, an improved water system for fire protection, apron reconstruction and taxiway expansion, rewiring of the runways and development of a new airport layout plan.

Holdman is also pursuing aviation-related industrial development. The airport is surrounded by acres of prime undeveloped land, and its location near Interstate 55, rail lines, and the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority, is a good selling point for potential industry.

"Aviation-related industry isn't what one might expect," he said. "Almost any manufacturing firm has the potential for air freight.

"Computer equipment, for example, has a relatively high value in low volumes and would be a perfect candidate for an air freight operation."

Holdman said it's important to market the airport as a regional facility.

"Our surveys found that a significant number of travelers who use the airport are from outside a 40-mile radius," he said. "We're truly a regional airport, and we've come a long way over the past five years."