AIRPORT MASTER PLAN

The Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority is updating its master plan.  

An airport’s master plan guides the airport’s development and operational sustainability, and covers 5, 10 and 20-year horizons.  Developing a master plan is a structured process that seeks to evaluate the airport’s future growth and land development needs.  

The plan will result in two key documents:  a Master Plan Report, and an Airport Layout Plan (ALP), which is a drawing that depicts the airport’s future property plans.  

A master plan process is guided by Federal Aviation Administration standards, and airports typically update their master plans approximately every 10 years.  The last update to AVL’s master plan was in 2013.

Some of the specific elements of an airport master plan include:

• Inventory of existing conditions
• 20-year aviation forecasts
• Airfield design evaluation
• Airport Layout Plan (ALP)
• Ground transportation
• Capital Improvement Plan

Why create an airport master plan?

Airports must facilitate modernization and expansion in order to meet foreseeable aviation demand and customer needs.  A master plan helps ensure that future development is:

• Planned and logical
• Feasible and flexible
• Fiscally responsible
• Environmentally compatible
• Regionally supported

Airports must have FAA-approved Airport Layout Plans in order to qualify for federal funding on eligible projects.