Batesville Airport to Start $2.5M Project

The Batesville Regional Airport is expected to start working on a project to make its east-west runway safer.

The price tag is estimated at $2.5 million to $3 million.

Darren Wilken, the airport’s manager, said the airport is waiting for money from the federal government to be released through the Federal Aviation Administration to begin the project. He said the money was appropriated earlier this year and will cover 90 percent of the construction costs. The rest of the money will come from the state of Arkansas or the airport.

The work will improve the grade beside the west end of the 6,000-foot runway.

The airport also has about a 3,000-foot runway that runs north and south.

“There’s a pretty steep grade, and we’re going to flatten it out a little bit,” he said. He said the grade will be about 5 percent after the project is completed.

Wilken said he hopes to have the project completed by the end of the year.

About 100 planes depart and land at the airport each week.

Wilken said the airport is more than 60 years old.

So far, no accidents have resulted from airplanes going off the runway and down the steep grade, he said.

“When we get done with it, if somebody has to use it, it will still tear up an airplane,” he said. “But hopefully it will save lives. … Right now it’s not safe.”