CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Yeager Airport plays a key role in the economies of Charleston and the southern region of the Mountain State, a study released Wednesday concluded.
The economic impact study, commissioned by Kanawha County officials and conducted by the Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research, places the annual economic output of Yeager at more than $174.6 million while impacting nearly 1.900 jobs.
Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy, who helped get the study funded, said the results once again show how important the state’s busiest airport is to the entire region.
“To have an airport that’s paid for, that’s here in a good location, a convenient location, that’s responsible either directly or indirectly for 1,800 jobs–the value is immeasurable,” Hardy said.
The study found Yeager greatly benefits from its tenant operations including the West Virginia Air National Guard’s 130th Airlift Wing. The tenants generate $116.5 million a year and 1,237 jobs, the study said.
Hardy took interest in the $50.3 million airport passenger spending figure, which helps fund 561 jobs in the area.
“On average the out-of-state visitors spend over $400 on hotels and they spend over $140 on restaurants,” he said. “So that’s new money that’s coming into our valley and our area from out-of-state that would not be here but for Yeager Airport.”
Most of the out-of-state passengers surveyed were from Texas and they came to Charleston on business, Marshall Senior Research Associate Justin Matthews said.
“We are able to determine where they were coming from, where they were going, what their purpose was, what they are spending money on and approximately how much,” Matthews said.
The study estimated 95,000 out of area visitors annually.
The economic output model was based on spending and respending, Matthews said.
“That was the crux of our study. Our model is based on what’s spent and then where it’s respent and we kind of quantify those amounts,” he said.
Information from the study will be used by the Charleston Area Alliance, which paid the $30,000 price tag for the work, the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and the state’s congressional delegation.
Hardy said future goals include more enplanements and more flights. There were just more than 225,000 enplanements in 2015.