Hammonton Airport Seeks Expansion

HAMMONTON — The municipal airport here sits in the midst of hundreds of acres of blueberry fields, just a few miles north of downtown.

“We’re for the small guy,” Town Business Administrator Jerry Barberio said of the general aviation airport that has neither a control tower or a landing fee.

The single-runway airport, which can only accommodate wingspans up to 49 feet, is looking for more planes to be based there. But it is also seeking more visitors to both Atlantic City and Philadelphia, said Barberio.

It recently secured more than $1 million in funding for lighting and public safety improvements, and its five-year expansion plan includes building indoor T-hangars that can house 36 small planes, he said.

The airport just underwent a $625,000 upgrade in LED lighting and runway signage, 90 percent of which was paid for by the state Department of Transportation’s Division of Aeronautics, Barberio said.

It is also about to embark on a $300,000 project to clear about 25 acres of trees that are safety hazards around the runways, once the Pinelands Commission gives its approval, Barberio said. That project also requires a 10 percent town match, with 90 percent funded by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Longterm plans to expand the airport to two runways, one long enough to handle planes with wingspans of up to 79 feet — which may be more difficult to achieve. That would require moving the county’s Columbia Road (Route 693) on the South end, and expanding the runway into Wharton State Forest to the North.

But the town engineer has advised keeping those plans ready on paper.

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