North Metro national airport? (Atlanta, Winder: purchasing, zoning, cost of)

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by Turnerbro

Does anybody else think this would be a good idea? The main Atlanta airport is pretty far for most people living north of the city. Plenty of major metros like D.C, Chicago, NYC, L.A, Miami have more than one airport. I'm wondering if a smaller airport north of Alpharetta would be a good idea.

All of those metro areas built their second airport because their first airport was too small and couldn't be expanded. This is not the case in Atlanta.

[ATLTJL]

Isn't there some airport in Dacula that was once considered for this?

[Citykid3785]

One thing to note, I lived 22 mins from MSP airport (twin cities), and my parents are about 15 minutes. Both of us experienced some degree of airplane noise. Not terrible, but a very minor nuisance.

So it begs the question, how close do you really want to be? I suppose 25-30 minutes is optimal? Which isn't too much quicker than my current East Cobb to hartsfield drive.

Even if they put an airport in, say Holly springs, which would otherwise be advantageous to me being on that side of the metro, it wouldn't shave all that much time for me.

I just picked up my in-laws from the world's busiest airport, during the busiest air travel period......and it was a relative breeze. Just pulled right in, picked them up, and I was on my way! Kudos to hartsfield for making it seemless (most of the time)

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by Gulch

All of those metro areas built their second airport because their first airport was too small and couldn't be expanded. This is not the case in Atlanta.

This is the bottom line. Hartsfield Jackson still has plenty of room to grow, they're already prepping for the 6th runway.

[glovenyc]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Metro Atlanta needs:

A second (smaller) international airport at Dobbins.


Martin Luther King, Jr. International Airport (MLK)












ATL
MLK

NOPE!!! build it up near Alpharetta / Milton

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by glovenyc

NOPE!!! build it up near Alpharetta / Milton

No. At Dobbins.


And where would you place it in Alpharetta/Milton???

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by JMatl

I live very near PDK, and it will never happen. Besides rioting in the streets, the foaming at the mouth NIMBY's would sue to hell and back to ensure it's tied up in Court for decades.

I think we perhaps will remain a single Airport Metro, I would frankly be shocked if we ever gained a second one.

Oh yea I'm sure it would never actually happen but from a location standpoint it's probably the best.

Originally Posted by toll_booth

I feel like Athens' airport has a slightly better chance of becoming a commercial airport than Dobbins does. It's over an hour away from here, and Atlanta's growth hasn't quite extended all the way out there yet. But they would have to overcome their own NIMBY issues as well, and they'd be competing against the much bigger airport here.

It would actually be closer for some of the metro area. From my parents' old house between Lville/Snellville, it took almost exactly 50 minutes to make it to UGA. It took, on average, about the same time to make it to Hartsfield. Traffic? Forget it.
A lot of development to the NE as well. Braselton, Winder, Jefferson are all growing and don't forget about Gainesville/Hall County. There's actually a decent amount of population that would be closer to KAHN than KATL. Definitely would need to expand the runway though.

[cwkimbro]

Athens Airport: Forget about it. Too far away. It isn't even on the right side of Athens. Athens use to have real commercial service. It had a US Air flight to Charlotte and it suffered from expensive fares, lower ridership, and had to receive huge subsidies and service was still cancelled.

The demand isn't there. This isn't about waving a wand. It has to be closer to Atlanta.

There is a small argument to be made for the airport in Winder to be a combined Athens/N. Atlanta airport, but I think Gwinnett and Dobbins would be more attractive options for Atlanta demand.

One problem with these discussions is everyone compares this to what we have, a huge Hub. Even comments on other cities are comparing smaller hubs or the city's main airports.

Many larger cities have a system of several airport where localized commuter airports are used to help local businesses and residents get commuter services to other hubs and major destinations (the real reason why Delta doesn't want this! threat of competition).

What Atlanta needs is smaller non-hub commuter-based commercial airports scattered in town, so business travelers flying into businesses in Gwinnett, Cobb, N. Fulton, Perimeter, etc.. do not have as far to travel and for local residents to have more options to fly out.

Atlanta does have room for a 6th runway at Hartsfield, but it comes at the cost of the second midfield area that was planned for some time to be used for additional gates in the past. One problem ATL will eventually have is we are going to have exorbitant costs of new gate space and fares will pushed higher for locals as gates will be full and utilized for connecting passengers.

Remember ATL is about 2/3 connecting passengers. We don't need anything to nearly rival the size of Hartsfield to be excellent O&D options.


Having some local O&D traffic oriented gates at existing runways is a good way to have a relatively small number of flights into our region serve our local population's needs better.

Having 3-4 airports with only 10 gates to serve short and medium haul planes only can serve many local passengers without too many of the mega-airport problems to the surrounding communities.

[ATLTJL]

Shoot, I'd be happy just having another airport that has flights that connect at Hartsfield so I can avoid getting there, parking, and going through security!

[beach43ofus]

The City of Atlanta owns enough property near Ball Ground to build a 2nd airport. That is why they bought it. Its just sitting there idle. I used to drive past it sometimes on my way to Big Canoe when I took the back roads. The signs on the fences state that the land is owned by the City of Atlanta.

I don't know how long they've owned it.