FUTURE BRIGHTENS FOR CAPE GIRARDEAU'S AIRPORT

A state aviation official told a Cape Girardeau gathering that a considerable amount of money awaits airports that qualify, and Cape Girardeau Regional Airport appears to be on track for doing so this year.

Ten thousand passenger boardings a year would qualify the airport control tower for about $400,000 in Federal Aviation Administration funding, and the airport could surpass that figure this year. Boardings during the first quarter were up 72 percent over the same period a year ago, at 2,873. At that rate the airport would meet the 10,000-passenger mark, and for the first time in a number of years the city would not have to bear the entire cost of operating the tower.

The official, Brian C. Weiler, administrator of the Missouri Department of Transportation's Aviation Multimodal Operations Division, also told the group of local officials and aviators that, even if the airport does surpass 10,000 boardings, it would still qualify for state aviation grants. That came as good news, particularly since the airport recently has taken advantage of those types of grants, one involving a $400,000 fire-protection water main and the other a $2.5 million apron expansion.

The airport is fortunate to have a commercial carrier in Trans World Express, a fact that weighs heavily in the state's handling of grant money. The airport is vital to the region, and all indications are it will prove to strengthen that fact before the year is out.