Commission looks for new commercial airport location in Western Washington

SEATAC, Wash. -- A new commission has been tasked by the legislature to identify a location for a new commercial airport in Washington state.

This comes as Sea-Tac Airport’s growth is exploding.

“The demand is going to be twice as much as the $24 million enplanements that come through Sea-Tac right now,” said David Fleckenstein, who is the director of aviation at the Washington Department of Transportation and also the chair of the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission.

That means at some point Sea-Tac will not be able to handle the regional demand.

Now the newly appointed commission will be working over the next two years to narrow down possible airports sites.

“The state of Washington in passing this bill say they want one new airport, a big airport, a big airport that is actually going to alleviate this problem,” said Steve Edmiston, who serves on the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission.

There are two considerations on the table, including expanding an existing airport or building a new one.

The commission met Thursday and reviewed six locations that have been looked at in different studies over the last 20 years.

The locations include Pierce County, Olympia, Arlington, McCord Field, Paine Field and Bremerton National.

“It’s a high level look at what are some of the possibilities for a potential expansion in the future and this is really the first step,” said Fleckenstein.

The list of locations will likely change in the months to come.

The commission will look at factors including airspace, local land use, environmental impacts, market demand and community input.

They must select six sites to be recommended by January 1, 2021, and a single preferred location must be identified by January 1, 2022.