ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines is among the opponents fighting a proposed second airport in the Atlanta area.
Officials in Paulding County want to open up their small municipal airport, Silver Comet Field, to commercial flights. But, according to published reports, some residents are opposed to the idea, and Delta has jumped into the fray to oppose the plan.
“In cities where secondary airports operate, these smaller airports siphon traffic flow from hubs at the primary airports and ultimately reduce the number of flights and destinations that can be successfully operated,” Holden Shannon, senior vice president for corporate strategy and real estate for Delta, wrote in an op-ed earlier this month and published on the Dallas-Hiram edition of Patch.com.
“They also reduce airport revenues in the form of landing fees, concession revenues and parking charges, which are needed to support development of the primary airport,” Shannon wrote. “That’s why Atlanta’s travelers and businesses should be concerned about plans to open a second passenger airport in Paulding County.”
A second airport for Atlanta has long been debated, but there is no consensus on where the airport should be located.
A 2011 study, for example, looked at 29 locations, but found there is no spot suitable for a second airport in Atlanta. Sites examined in 2011 included a number in metro Atlanta, including Paulding County and Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta.