By Jen Wilson
North Carolina’s 72 publicly owned airports contribute nearly $26 billion to the state’s economy, representing about 6 percent of the state’s gross domestic product, according to a study from the Institution of Transportation and Education at N.C. State University.
The airports also support nearly 109,000 jobs and a total of $4 billion in annual personal income, the findings show.
About $12.5 billion of the economic impact is centered on Charlotte Douglas International Airport, the state’s largest airport. The study estimates CLT employs 17,890 directly and supports a total of 60,320 jobs.
Second-largest airport Raleigh-Durham International’s contributions total $7.8 billion.
The study, commissioned by the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation, shows a combined $770 million contribution to state income, sales and property taxes from the N.C. airports.
The figures include direct, indirect and induced impact, counting activity related to the airports themselves and to the companies that do business with the facilities. The state’s nine commercial airports and 63 general aviation centers were counted.
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2012/12/11/report-clt-contributes-125b-to-nc.html