More than $5 million in federal funds are coming to airports across Oregon, including Newport’s city-run airport.
On Monday, Oregon senators and representatives announced $5.15 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration would be divided between airports in Newport, Aurora, Portland, Salem, John Day, and Brookings.
Newport will receive $650,000 for a new automated weather observing system that provides site-specific weather data.
“Reliable, modern airport infrastructure is essential for the safety and economic vitality of our coastal communities,” said Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore in the press release.
Newport’s current weather observation system is more than 20 years old, said airport director Lance Vanderbeck. It measures visibility, temperature, precipitation and wind gusts to help give pilots accurate data so that they can be granted clearance to land at the airport, he said.
Last year, the airport had 6,000 logged operations including trips both coming in and leaving the airport. Mostly, aircrafts coming into the airport are privately owned, medical transports from the coastguard, shipments from FedEx or military owned.
“Without a weather system no aircraft would be able to fly into the airport safely and in a timely manner,” Vanderbeck said.
- Shayla Escudero/Lincoln Chronicle
