Stewart International to become major airport?

  Eyewitness News

(New Windsor - WABC, November 16, 2006) (WABC) -- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will officially begin the process of turning Stewart International Airport in Orange County into the region's fourth major jetport.

The agency's board will vote to authorize its staff to determine legally what the Port Authority would have to do to enhance and operate the former Air Force base, located in Newburgh about 55 miles north of New York City.

Currently, the airport is owned by the State of New York. It is the nation's first privatized commercial airport and operates under a 99-year lease agreement between National Express Group and the New York State Department of Transportation. National Express just weeks ago began soliciting offers for the remainder of its lease.

The Port Authority (PA) reportedly has discussed the possibilities of assuming control of Stewart Airport in scant detail before, but is now taking a concrete step toward making Stewart Airport its fourth jetport by authorizing funds to begin in-depth studies of what it would need to do to upgrade and operate the facility.

The PA board will authorize agency staff to spend an undetermined amount of money to find out what steps need to be taken to assume control of the airport.

The PA is currently not moving to assume the remainder of National Express's lease. But the PA is not ruling out the possibility that at some point in the future it might assume the lease.

The exploratory process is scheduled to start immediately, but there is no firm timetable for completion. Officials say the goal is to move forward on making a decision on what to do with Stewart as soon as possible.

Eyewitness News has learned PA Chairman Anthony Coscia has already visited the airport and spoken with its management several times in recent weeks. These visits were not publicized and were exploratory in nature.

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