CINCINNATI (WKRC) – Five municipal airports across Ohio are upgrading their infrastructure to allow electric aircraft to operate throughout the state.
The project, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), is being supported by the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Council of Governments (OKI) which presented funding to hire a firm to lead the project.
Five municipal airports in southwest Ohio are upgrading their infrastructure to allow electric aircraft to operate throughout the state.
About $80,000 from OKI will support the initiative at Lunken Airport, Butler County Regional Airport, Clermont County Airport, Miami University Airport and Middletown Regional Airport.
Division Manager for Lunken, Jamie Edrosa, explained the infrastructure upgrades include building charging stations to fuel the electric aircraft.
The new fleet will support a variety of air cargo.
“Whether it’s logistics, whether it’s the transportation of passengers, transportation of goods,” Edrosa explained. “And then also a lot to do with the medical industry. Whether it’s organ donations, the transportation of those items or passengers.”
Project leaders said it will be at least a decade until electric aircraft are flying across the state.
The ultimate goal is to lessen the traffic on the roads and increase it in the sky.
“OKI’s forecast for truck traffic is an increase of 46% between now and 2050,” explained OKI Strategic Initiatives Manager, Robyn Bancroft. “So, if we can help make a dent in that and move some of that cargo up in the air. If we can get them off, so they’re not hitting 71 or 75. That’s just so much better for our commuters.”
Lunken recorded more than 122,000 flights in 2024. AAM is projected to increase operations there and at similar municipal airports once launched.
“It’s going to be shorter, regional, intrastate type of operations,” Edrosa explained.