New taxiway for northeast GA airport

A northeast Georgia county is a step closer to expanding its airport. Jackson County commissioners have approved a plan to expand the county airport by 52 acres to add a second taxiway. Construction on the new taxiway will begin next year at the airport in Jefferson.

Rep. Lewis still on terror watch list

Rep. John Lewis of Atlanta says a name mix up on a terrorist watch list is still wreaking havoc on his air travel some five years after the problem first popped up. The 11-term Democrat says he's still subjected to repeated airport searches and required to provide multiple forms of identification. The problems persist even though he has tried for years to clarify that he's not on the no-fly list. If it's still happening to a congressman, he wrote, average Americans must be suffering even more.

Northeast Georgia airport talks revived

The idea of a regional airport in northeast Georgia is gaining steam, with the re-activation of a dormant transportation commission.

After 15 years, government and business leaders think now is the time for the Northeast Georgia Surface and Air Transportation Commission to meet again. The need for a regional airport is growing once more since Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is expected to reach capacity in the next decade. Expansion of Chattanooga's airport is also an idea on the table.

According to the Athens Banner-Herald, the Northeast Georgia group abandoned work on bringing-in a regional airport in 1992 because of strong opposition from area counties. However, the Barrow County Commission has now expressed interest in expanding the Winder-Barrow Airport into a regional service hub. The airport is currently extending one runway and has plenty of surrounding property for continued construction.

The Northeast Georgia Transportation Commission will begin its reorganization plans at a meeting on August 23rd.

In a related story, state transport officials and experts are meeting in Columbus to discuss funding and future transport-infrastructure planning.

Monday and Tuesday's sessions of the State Senate and House Transportation Funding Study Committee are the third of six such statewide meetings.

Possible new airlines for Athens

Athens airport could attract two commercial airlines. The Athens-Banner Herald reports that Florida-based Gulfstream International has applied to replace Air Midwest at Athens-Ben Epps Airport. Gulfstream has proposed two flights a day to Charlotte, North Carolina on 19-seat turboprops. But airport officials plan to ask the Federal Aviation Administration to make Gulfstream offer more flights to more places on bigger planes. Also, a Wisconsin consortium wants to start new routes next year between Athens Gary, Indiana and Clearwater, Florida.