City Informs FAA That The Facility Will Close

Pilots in the greater Cincinnati, OH, area are about to lose an airport. Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. has sent a letter to the FAA expressing the city's intention to close Blue Ash Airport (KISZ) no earlier than June 8th.

In the letter appearing on cincinnati.com, Dohoney writes that the airport "operates far below its capacity, and currently does not generate enough income to properly maintain the airport. Accordingly, it is not operationally and economically feasible to reconfigure and continue to keep the airport open. The City of Cincinnati intends to work with the Federal Aviation Administration to implement all necessary procedures to ensure that the airport is properly closed, and that users and tenants of the airport are notified well in advance of closure."

The letter goes on to point out that there are five other GA airports within 30 statute miles of Blue Ash, including Lunken. Dohoney says that those airports can easily absorb the traffic currently handled at Blue Ash.

Blue Ash Mayor Mark Weber said the letter, which fulfills a federal requirement of 90 days notice of intent to close an airport, was "certainly not a shock." He said he was waiting for them to "do something."

Meg Olberding, a spokeswoman for the city, told cincinnati.com that "intent" means "our intent is to do it." She said copies of the letter were sent as a courtesy to Blue Ash City Manager David Waltz and the Ohio DOT. (Aerial photo of Blue Ash airport)

FMI: www.cincinnati-oh.gov