Larger wingspans drive changes at Carlsbad’s airport

By Ellen Wright CARLSBAD—The 56-year-old

McClellan-Palomar Airport is due for a Master Plan update, which provides a 20-year blueprint for the airport.

Kimley-Horn and Associates, the civics engineering company tasked with the project, plans on updating the airport for faster jets with larger wingspans.

Charter and airline companies are using more jets with larger wingspans because of better fuel economy and greater range.

The only commercial service at the airport was canceled because SkyWest Airlines, which operated daily flights to Los Angeles through United Airlines, phased out the use of Embraer 120 Brasilia turboprops last month.

Kimley Horn and Associates held the third public workshop on April 30 to update the city on the process, which is likely to take years.

Vince Hourigan, Master Plan project manager, said the airport would never be able to support jumbo jets, like Boeing 747s.

“It is not going to be a large, commercial airport. It would never fit,” Hourigan said.

The airport caters to corporate jets and sees about 6,000 round trip flights annually.

“Palomar serves as a significant center for corpo- rate aviation activity for the entire county,” Hourigan said.

At the meeting, staff presented four options to the public, which had been whittled down from 15.

Hourigan said only three options proved likely contenders for adoption because one was too cost prohibitive.

That option includes all of the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety recommendations.

David Riverson, an associate with Kimley Horn, said the FAA understands not all of the stringent guidelines can be met but the option was included as a baseline for safety standards.

"Frankly, it set a benchmark that is way beyond what we believe to be even viable to consider,” Riverson said. “But it is important to have that as a starting point with the FAA, because their first question is going to be: ‘Can you meet standard? Can you meet your future demand? Can you meet the role your airport has? And if you can’t make sure you can prove you can’t and tell us why.’”

The other options include extending the runway either 800 or 900 feet to accommodate light jets like the Gulfstream G650 or the Global Express.

The design criteria take into account approach speed and wingspan.

Hourigan said no noise studies have been done yet because it would be premature.

Once they’ve selected a preferred alternative, they will conduct noise change studies to test how a possible runway extension and different types of planes would affect the noise in the area.

Slower planes are perceived louder because they can be heard longer, Hourigan said.

The longer runway would allow planes to take off sooner, which would reduce noise.

According to information from 2008, the airport employs 360 people for a combined total personal in-